.  Caul's  (Catfjc bral 


Cfjc  £>itr  of 
$aul's(  Catltebral, 

anb  3)ts  J7eigljl)orfjoob 

BY 

ROBERT  MEANS  LAWRENCE,  M.D. 


BOSTON 

RICHARD   G.   BADGER,  PUBLISHER 


MCMXVI 


COPYRIGHT,  I9l6,  BY  ROBERT  MEANS  LAWRENCE 

All  Rights  Reserved 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 
The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PA.QB 

I.  THE  SITE 13 

Tremont  Street 22 

Avery  Street 27 

Hogg  Alley 31 

II.  THE  NORTH  LOT 35 

Robert  Wyard,  Bricklayer 37 

John  Wampas,  Indian 39 

Joshua  Hewes 50 

John  Bushell,  Printer 59 

Thomas  Bumstead,  Coachmaker    ...  65 

Captain  Levi  Pease,  Stage-coach  Owner  .  66 

Nathan  Bond,  Merchant 78 

Benjamin  Callender,  Tailor       ....  80 

John  Osborn,  Importer  ......  81 

III.  THE  SOUTH  LOT 83 

James  Johnson,  Glover 85 

George  Burden,  Shoemaker      ....  86 

Henry  Webb,  Merchant 87 

Samuel  Ballard 92 

Purchase  of  a  Site  for  Saint  Paul's  Church  94 

The  Vergoose  or  Goose  Family      ...  95 

IV.  THE  CENTER  LOT 103 

Ten-Foot  Strip 105 

William  Parsons,  Emigrant      ....  105 

'5 


CONTENTS 


Hezekiah  Usher,  Bookseller       .      .      .      .  107 

John  West,  Secretary 113 

Major-General  Waitstill  Winthrop      .      .  115 

Francis  Wainwright 118 

Addington  Davenport 119 

Jonathan  Williams 122 

The  Reverend  Roger  Price 129 

Sheriff  Stephen  Greenleaf  .      .      .      .      .  133 

General  Henry  Jackson 135 

John  Coffin  Jones 136 

James  Swan 137 

Washington  Gardens 141 

Saint  Paul's  Church 144 

The  Masonic  Temple 147 

Recreation  Facilities       ......  149 

V.  THE;  LEVERETT  LOT 155 

Leverett's  Pasture 157 

Simon  Lynde 159 

John  Hull,  Mintmaster 160 

Captain  Ephraim  Savage 163 

Chief  Justice  Paul  Dudley 167 

James  Williams,  Cooper 168 

James  Pitts,  Patriot  .      .      .      .      .      .      .  168 

Edward  Durant I72 

Jeremiah  Smith  Boies 174 

Doctor  Thomas  Bartlett 176 

VI.  WINTER  STREET  LOTS 181 

Doctor  John  Graham 183 

6 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTEE  PAGE 

Doctor  George  Hay  ward 183 

Doctor  John  Homans 184 

The  North  Corner  of  Tremont  and  Winter 

Streets 185 

William  Hudson,  Senior  .  .  .  .  .  186 

Arthur  Mason,  Biscuit  Maker  ....  189 

Anthony  Stoddard,  Linen  Draper  .  .  .  190 

Edmund  White,  Merchant 191 

Captain  Edward  Willis 192 

Colonel  Samuel  Vetch 193 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Adam  Winthrop  .  .  196 

Thomas  Oxnard 196 

The  Public  Granary 198 

John  Williams,  Inspector-General  .  .  .  199 

Hugh  Percy 200 

Travelers'  Impressions  of  Boston  .  .  .  207 

Samuel  Breck  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  210 

John  Andrews,  Merchant 212 

William  Phillips 215 

Other  Winter  Street  Lots  adjoining  the 

Cathedral  Site 216 

John  Eyre  .  ...  ,  .  .  .  .  218 

Thomas  Brattle 219 

James  Fosdick 222 

John  Goodwin .  224 

The  Reverend  Samuel  Willard  ....  225 

Giles  Dyer,  Deputy  Collector  ....  227 
The  Lot  on  the  Westerly  Corner  of  Winter 

Street  and  Winter  Place 228 

7 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTEB 

Doctor  Edward  Ellis 229 

Doctor  Sylvester  Gardiner 231 

John  Boies 235 

Samuel  Adams,  Patriot 236 

Isaiah  Thomas,  Printer 239 

Colonel  Samuel  Swett 242 

Other  Winter  Street  Residents  ....  244 

Ezekiel  Price,  Secretary 248 

Thomas  William  Parsons,  Poet     .      .      .  249 

Blott's  Corner 251 

VII.    TREMONT  STREET  NEIGHBORS     .     .     .  "257 

Daniel  Maud 259 

Edward  Bromfield,  Representative     .      .  .262 

Captain  Adino  Paddock 266 

The  Manufactory  House 271 

The  Spinning  Craze 273 

Bumstead  Place 276 

The  Haymarket  and  Vicinity  ....  280 

Temple  Place 276 


8 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Boston  Common  in  1809     ....  Frontispiece 
From  the  Collections  of  the  Bostonian  Society 

FACING  PAOB 

The  Tremont  Street  Mall  in  1843     ....       76 
From  the  Collections  of  the  Bostonian  Society 

The  Old  Masonic  Temple  about  1870     .      .      .     148 

View  of  a  Part  of  Boston  Common  in  1768     .     282 
From  a  water-color  drawing  in  the  Possession  of  the 
Concord  Antiquarian  Society 


THE  SITE  OF  SAINT  PAUL'S  CATHE- 
DRAL, BOSTON,  AND  ITS 
NEIGHBORHOOD 


I  love  this  old  place  where  I  was  born;  the  heart  of 
the  world  beats  under  the  three  hills  of  Boston.  .  .  . 

I  never  thought  he  would  come  to  good  when  I 
heard  him  attempting  to  sneer  at  an  unoffending  city 
so  respectable  as  Boston.  After  a  man  begins  to  at- 
tack the  State  House;  when  he  gets  bitter  about  the 
Frog  Pond,  you  may  be  sure  there  is  not  much  left 
of  him.  O.  W.  HOLMES. 


THE  SITE  OF  SAINT  PAUL'S  CATHE- 
DRAL, BOSTON,  AND  ITS 
NEIGHBORHOOD 

The  Site 

DURING  a  period  of  nearly  two  centuries,  from 
the  founding  of  Boston  in  the  year  1630  to  the 
erection  of  Saint  Paul's  Church  in  1820,  the  tract 
bounded  by  Tremont,  Winter,  West  and  Washington 
Streets  was  open  land,  consisting  of  gardens  and  pas- 
tures, dotted  here  and  there  with  wooden  dwelling- 
houses,  barns,  sheds,  trees  and  orchards. 

It  is  our  object  to  give  some  information,  derived 
from  all  available  sources,  regarding  the  owners  and 
occupants  of  the  land  in  that  vicinity. 

The  streets  which  surround  the  above-mentioned 
tract  were  originally  lanes,  through  which  the  early 
settlers  drove  their  cows  to  pasture  on  the  Common, 
or  among  "the  blueberry  bushes  on  Beacon  Hill,"  and 
their  location  remains  practically  unchanged. 

It  was  a  land  of  divers  and  sundry  sorts,  all  about 
Masathulets  Bay,  wrote  the  Reverend  Mr.  Higge- 
son,  in  his  New  England  Plantation,  1629;  and  at 
Charles  River  was  to  be  found  as  fat,  black  earth  as 
could  be  seen  anywhere;  while  in  other  places  in  the 

13 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

neighborhood  the  chief  ingredients  of  the  soil  were 
gravel,  clay  and  sand. 

A  member  of  Governor  Winthrop's  Company  wrote 
down  some  impressions  of  the  peninsula  soon  after 
his  arrival,  and  while  the  houses  of  the  colonists  were 
being  built. 

He  mentioned  "goodly  groups  of  trees ;  dainty,  fine, 
round,  rising  hillocks;  delicate,  fair,  large  plains; 
sweet,  crystal  fountains,  and  clear  running  streams 
that  turn  in  fine  meanders  through  the  meads,  mak- 
ing so  sweet  a  murmuring  noise  to  hear,  as  would 
ever  lull  the  senses  with  delight  asleep,  so  pleasantly 
do  they  glide  upon  the  pebble-stones,  jetting  most 
jocundly  when  they  meet." 

By  way  of  contrast  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  quote  the 
words  of  another  early  emigrant,  who  returned  to 
England  in  the  Autumn  of  1630,  and  who  appears  to 
have  been  discouraged  at  the  prospect  of  wintering 
on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts,  which  he  described 
as  a  hideous  wilderness,  possessed  with  barbarous 
Indians,  very  cold,  sickly,  rocky,  barren,  unfit  for  cul- 
ture, and  "like  to  keep  the  people  miserable." 

Captain  Edward  Johnson,  of  Woburn,  in  his  Won- 
der-working Providence,  thus  describes  the  town  of 
Boston,  as  it  appeared  to  him  during  the  period  im- 
mediately following  its  founding:  "Invironed  it  is 

14 


AND    ITS   NEIGHBORHOOD 

with  brinous  flouds,  saving  one  small  Istmos,  which 
gives  free  access  to  the  Neighbour  Townes  by  Land 
on  the  South  side;  on  the  North-west  and  North- 
east, two  constant  Faires  [Ferries]  are  kept  for  daily 
traffique  thereunto.  .  .  .  The  chiefe  Edifice  of 
this  City-like  Towne  is  crowded  on  the  Sea-bankes, 
and  wharfed  out  with  great  industry  and  cost,  the 
buildings  beautiful  and  large,  some  fairely  set  forth 
with  Brick,  Tile,  Stone  and  Slate,  and  orderly  placed 
with  comly  streets,  whose  continuall  enlargement 
presages  some  sumptuous  City.  .  .  . 

"But  now  behold  the  admirable  acts  of  Christ;  at 
this  his  peoples  landing,  the  hideous  thickets  in  this 
place  were  such  that  Wolves  and  Beares  nurst  up  their 
young  from  the  eyes  of  all  beholders,  in  those  very 
places  where  the  streets  are  full  of  Girles  and  Boys 
sporting  up  and  downe,  with  a  continued  concourse 
of  people."  .  .  . 

In  the  year  1662  the  Town  authorities  appointed 
eight  watchmen  for  night  service.  They  were  in- 
structed "Silentlie  but  vigilantlie"  to  patrol  the 
streets  two  by  two,  "a  youth  allwayes  joyned  with  an 
elder  and  more  sober  person,"  and  two  to  be  always 
about  the  Market  Place.  If  they  saw  any  lights  after 
ten  o'clock  at  night,  they  were  to  enquire  whether  a 
warrantable  cause  existed  therefor;  and  if  they  heard 

15 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

a  noise  or  disorderly  carriage  in  any  house,  they  were 
to  ascertain  the  reason  thereof.  Should  it  prove  to 
be  a  real  disorder,  as  for  example  that  men  were 
dancing,  drinking,  or  vainly  singing,  the  watchmen 
were  to  admonish  discreetly  the  offending  parties ;  and 
if  this  did  not  avail,  they  were  to  call  the  Captain  of 
the  watch,  "who  shall  see  to  the  redresse  of  it,  and 
take  the  names  of  the  persons,  to  acquaint  authoritie 
therewith."1 

Edward  H.  Savage,  in  his  Police  Records  and 
Recollections,  stated  that  in  the  earliest  days  of  the 
Colony,  wolves  and  bears  sometimes  came  into  the 
Town  and  carried  off  young  lambs  and  kids.  Strag- 
gling Indians  also  paid  nocturnal  visits  without  eti- 
quette or  scruple  in  regard  to  the  ownership  of  per- 
sonal property;  and  there  were  moreover  among  the 
inhabitants,  according  to  the  above-mentioned  au- 
thority, quite  a  number  of  rogues  and  thieves,  a  law- 
less element  which  so  often  thrives  in  new  communi- 
ties. That  hoodlums  were  in  evidence  at  a  much  later 
period  is  apparent  from  the  following  official  Notice : 

"Columbian  Centinel 

"Novr.  30,  1799. 
"10  DOLLARS  REWARD. 

.    "WHEREAS  complaints  are  made  by  several  of 
the  Lamp-Lighters  of  the  Town,  that  they  are  often 
1  Boston  Town  Records. 

16 


AND    ITS   NEIGHBORHOOD 

assaulted  with  stones  and  otherwise  insulted  by  col- 
lections of  Boys  in  the  streets,  while  lighting  the 
lamps  in  the  several  wards ;  by  which  means  their  lives 
and  limbs  are  endangered,  and  many  of  the  Lamps 
also  broken — The  Selectmen  hereby  invite  the  Inhab- 
itants to  give  their  aid  in  preventing  such  dangerous 
outrages.     .     .     .     And  they  hereby  offer  a  reward 
of  Ten  Dollars  to  any  person  who  shall  inform  against 
any,  who  may  wantonly  break  any  Lamp  belonging  to 
the  Town,  on  conviction  thereof. 
"By  order  of  the 
"Selectmen, 
"WILLIAM  COOPER, 

"Town-Clerk." 

The  newly-arrived  colonists  were  apprehensive  lest 
winter  should  surprise  them  before  they  could  build 
their  houses.  At  first  the  branches  of  neighboring 
trees  afforded  their  only  shelter.  A  few  of  them  are 
said  to  have  found  refuge  in  caves,  but  no  vestiges 
of  such  habitations  have  been  found.  Meanwhile 
they  were  building  log  cabins  and  cottages.  But  for 
many  years  after  the  founding  of  Boston,  their  habi- 
tations were  mostly  of  flimsy  construction,  with 
thatched  roofs.  So  economical  were  the  first  settlers, 
that  Governor  Winthrop  reproved  his  deputy  for  nail- 
ing clapboards  on  his  house,  saying  that  he  "did  not 
well  to  bestow  so  much  cost  about  the  wainscoting, 

17 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

and  adorning  his  house,  in  the  beginning  of  a  Planta- 
tion, in  regard  of  the  public  charges  and  for  example." 
Mention  is  made  in  the  Town  Records,  April  29,  1639, 
of  "Mr.  Robert  Keayne's  Mud  Wall  house."  .  .  . 

John  Josselyn,  an  Englishman,  at  the  time  of  his 
second  visit  to  Boston  in  1663,  thus  wrote: 

The  houses  are  for  the  most  part  raised  on  the  sea- 
banks,  and  wharfed  out  with  great  industry  and  cost; 
many  of  them  standing  upon  piles,  close  together  on 
each  side  of  the  streets,  as  in  London,  and  furnished 
with  many  fair  shops.  Their  materials  are  brick, 
stone,  lime,  handsomely  contrived,  with  three  Meet- 
ing-houses or  Churches,  and  a  Town-house,  built  upon 
pillars,  where  the  merchants  may  confer.  In  the 
chambers  above  they  keep  their  monthly  Courts.  The 
town  is  rich  and  populous.  On  the  south  there  is  a 
small  but  pleasant  Common,  where  the  Gallants,  a 
little  before  sunset,  walk  with  their  Marmelet-Ma- 
dams,  as  we  do  in  Morefields,  till  the  nine-o'clock  bell 
rings  them  home  to  their  respective  habitations ;  when 
presently  the  Constables  walk  their  rounds  to  see  good 
order  kept,  and  to  take  up  loose  people. 

Mr.  Edward  Ward,  of  London,  who  visited  Bos- 
ton in  1699,  wrote  as  follows:  "The  Houses  in  some 
parts  join,  as  in  London;  the  Buildings,  like  their 
women,  being  Neat  and  Handsome.  ...  In  the 

18 


AND    ITS    NEIGHBORHOOD 

Chief  or  High  Street  there  are  stately  Edifices,  some 
of  which  have  cost  the  owners  two  or  three  thousand 
Pounds  the  raising.  ...  To  the  glory  of  Re- 
ligion and  the  Credit  of  the  Town,  there  are  four 
Churches,  built  with  Clap-boards  and  Shingles,  after 
the  Fashion  of  our  Meeting-houses.  Their  Churches 
are  independent,  every  Congregation  or  Assembly,  in 
Ecclesiastical  affairs,  being  distinctly  governed  by 
their  own  Elders  and  Deacons,  who  in  their  Turns 
set  the  psalms;  and  the  former  are  as  busie  on  Sun- 
days to  excite  the  people  to  a  Liberal  Contribution,  as 
our  Church-Wardens  at  Easter  and  Christmas  are 
with  their  dishes  to  make  a  Collection  for  the  Poor." 

This  scurrilous  writer  affirmed  that  the  site  of  New 
England's  Metropolis  was  bought  from  the  Indians 
by  the  first  colonists  for  a  bushel  of  wampum  and  a 
bottle  of  rum.  Lobsters  and  codfish,  he  wrote,  were 
so  plentiful  that  they  were  regarded  with  contempt; 
and  it  was  as  much  of  a  scandal  for  a  poor  man  to 
carry  such  sea  food  through  Boston's  streets,  as  it 
was  for  a  London  Alderman  to  be  seen  transporting  a 
groat's  worth  of  herring  from  Billingsgate  Market  to 
his  own  house. 

The  Royal  Commissioners,  sent  over  by  King 
Charles  II,  to  correct  whatever  errors  or  abuses  they 
might  find  in  the  administration  of  Governor  Richard 

19 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Bellingham  of  Massachusetts,  prepared  in  the  year 
1666  a  description  of  Boston,  which  they  described 
as  the  chief  Town  in  the  Country,  and  seated  upon  a 
peninsula  in  the  bottom  of  a  Bay,  which  is  a  good 
harbor  and  full  of  fish.  .  .  .  Their  houses  are 
generally  wooden,  their  streets  crooked,  with  little 
decency  and  no  uniformity ;  and  there,  neither  months, 
days,  seasons  of  the  year,  Churches  nor  Inns  are 
known  by  their  English  names. 

Already  at  this  time,  after  the  lapse  of  a  genera- 
tion since  the  arrival  of  Governor  Winthrop  and  his 
company,  Boston  had  made  rapid  progress  in  growth, 
wealth  and  beauty.  The  more  pretentious  houses 
were  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  market-place, 
where  the  Old  State-House  now  is.  But  commodi- 
ous dwellings  had  also  been  built  on  Common  Street 
and  at  the  north  end.  The  Town  had  a  "half-rural, 
half-fortified  and  wholly  prosperous  appearance."1 

An  idea  of  one  type  of  domicile  in  Boston  two 
centuries  or  more  ago,  may  be  had  from  a  permit 
issued  to  James  Brown  in  1708,  to  erect  a  timber 
building  for  a  dwelling-house,  39  by  20  feet,  and  32 
feet  stud,  with  a  flat  roof,  on  his  land  at  the  south 
corner  of  Winter  and  Washington  Streets,  where 

*  Eliza  Buckminster  Lee.    Naomi,  or  Boston  two  hundred  years 
ago. 

20 


AND    ITS    NEIGHBORHOOD 

Thomas  Bannister  had  previously  lived;  "and  for  the 
better  security  thereof  in  case  of  fire,  he  will  carry  up 
the  Northerly  side  of  the  said  building  with  a  Brick 
Wall  extending  two  foot  higher  than  the  timber- 
work.  And  he  will  make  Battlements  on  the  roof 
thereto/' 

The  lots  on  Tremont  Street,  fronting  the  Common, 
may  once  have  served  as  a  vantage-ground,  whence 
the  mischievous  boys  of  the  Town,  in  a  spirit  of  play- 
fulness, could  easily  pelt  the  cows  browsing  on  the 
historic  training-field,  with  handy  missiles.  How  else 
can  one  explain  the  following  extract  from  the  Town 
Records,  April  30,  1657,  wherein  the  Common  ap- 
pears to  have  been  credited  with  human  sensibilities? 

"Whereas  the  Common  is  att  times  much  annoyed 
by  casting  stones  outt  of  the  bordering  lotts,  and  other 
things  that  are  offensive;  it  is  therefore  ordered  that 
if  any  person  shall  hereafter  anyway  annoy  the 
Common  by  spreading  stones  or  other  trash  upon  it, 
.  .  .  every  person  so  offending  shall  bee  fined 
twenty  shillings." 

One  may  learn  some  interesting  particulars  re- 
garding the  Boston  of  1687  from  the  Narrative  of  a 
French  Protestant  refugee,  from  which  we  quote:1 
"There  is  not  a  house  in  Boston,  however  small  may 
1  The  Historical  Magazine.    Vol.  II.    Second  Series.     1867. 

21 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

be  its  means,  that  has  not  one  or  two  negroes.  .  .  . 
You  employ  savages  to  work  your  fields,  in  considera- 
tion of  one  shilling  and  a  half  a  day  and  board,  which 
is  eighteen  pence.  .  .  .  Negroes  cost  from  twenty 
to  forty  pistoles,  provided  they  are  skilful  or  robust; 
there  is  no  danger  that  they  will  leave  you;  for  the 
moment  one  is  missing  from  the  town,  you  have  only 
to  notify  the  savages,  who,  provided  you  promise 
them  something  and  describe  the  man  to  them,  he  is 
right  soon  found.  .  .  .  Pasturage  abounds  here. 
An  ox  costs  from  twelve  to  fifteen  crowns;  a  cow, 
eight  or  ten;  horses,  from  ten  to  fifty  crowns,  and  in 
plenty.  There  are  even  wild  ones  in  the  woods,  which 
are  yours,  if  you  can  catch  them.  .  .  .  If  our  poor 
refugee  brethren,  who  understand  tilling  land,  should 
come  thence,  they  could  not  fail  of  living  very  com- 
fortably and  getting  rich;  for  the  English  are  very 
inefficient,  and  understand  only  their  Indian  corn  and 
cattle." 

Tremont  Street 

THE  present  Trea-mount  or  Tremont  Street  was 
early  known  as  "the  High-way,"  and  its  south- 
erly portion  was  hardly  more  than  a  rough  wagon- 
road  across  the  eastern  border  of  the  Common,  when 

22 


AND    ITS    NEIGHBORHOOD 

the  latter  extended  to  Mason  Street.  One  writer  por- 
trayed it  as  a  grassy  lane,  winding  around  the  base 
of  the  cluster  of  three  hills,  which  rose  from  the  pen- 
insula, where  the  little  trading  town  had  been  planted. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  was 
described  as  "the  way  leading  from  the  mansion- 
house  of  the  late  Simon  Lynde  Esq.  (in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Howard  Street),  by  Captain  Southack's, 
extending  as  far  as  Colonel  Townsend's  corner"  (the 
northwest  corner  of  Beacon  Street).  This  thorough- 
fare was  named  Tra-Mount  Street  by  the  Town,  May 
3,  1708,  and  its  official  description  was  "the  Way  lead- 
ing from  Melyen's  Corner  (the  site  of  the  present 
Tremont  Building),  near  Colonel  Townsend's,  pass- 
ing through  the  Common,  along  by  Mr.  Sheaf's,  into 
Frog  Lane."  The  southerly  portion  received  the  name 
of  Common  Street,  which  it  retained  until  1844.  The 
northerly  part  was  called  Long  Acre  in  Provincial 
times.  In  early  deeds  Beacon  Street  was  described 
as  "the  Lane  leading  to  the  Alms-house,"  which  was 
built  in  1662  at  the  head  of  Park  Street. 

According  to  local  historians,  the  low-lying  por- 
tion of  the  Common,  near  Charles  Street,  was  a  marsh 
or  swamp  in  the  early  days  of  the  Town.  It  was 
therefore  a  natural  habitat  of  those  noisy  batrachians, 
whose  hoarse,  guttural  cries  doubtless  suggested  the 

23 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

name  Frog  Lane,  which  was  changed  to  Boylston 
Street  about  the  year  1809,  in  honor  of  the  noted 
physician,  Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston.  Frog  Lane  ran 
from  the  Liberty  Tree  on  Orange  Street  to  the  marsh 
which  bordered  on  the  waters  of  the  Back  Bay.  In 
1732  it  was  described  as  leading  from  Welles's  Cor- 
ner to  the  Sea  at  the  bottom  of  the  Common. 

Winter  Street  was  first  called  Blott's  Lane,  after- 
wards Bannister's  Lane.  In  1708  it  received  its  pres- 
ent name  and  was  described  as  "the  Way  from  Ellise's 
Corner,  nigh  the  upper  end  of  Summer  Street,  lead- 
ing westerly  into  the  Common."  In  like  manner  West 
Street  led  "from  Cowell's  Corner  in  Newbury  (now 
Washington  Street)  to  the  Common."  Temple  Place 
was  known  as  Turnagain  Alley,  and  its  modern  title 
was  derived  from  the  Masonic  Temple,  finished  in 
1832,  which  formerly  adjoined  Saint  Paul's  Church 
on  the  south. 

In  the  Division  of  Wards,  in  the  year  1713,  "Turn- 
again  Ally"  was  described  as  being  in  Newberry 
Ward  or  Precinct. 

According  to  common  report  the  streets  of  Boston 
follow  the  lines  of  the  original  cow  paths.  In  a  de- 
scription of  the  Boston  of  1686,  a  writer  refers  to 
its  main  thoroughfare  as  "winding  about  like  a  huge 
serpent,  its  Head  being  by  the  Towne  Hall,  while  its 

24 


AND    ITS   NEIGHBORHOOD 

Tail  loseth  itself  somewhere  on  the  Neck,  near  a 
league  distant,  where  standeth  the  gallows."  New- 
bury  Street,  which  formerly  was  a  part  of  the  "High 
Waye  toward  Roxburie,"  was  the  only  avenue  from 
the  peninsula  to  the  mainland  over  the  lonely  and 
barren  Neck,  and  was  described  in  1701  as  "The  street 
from  ye  corner  of  the  House  in  ye  tenure  of  Captain 
Turfrey"  (probably  on  the  corner  of  Essex  Street), 
"nigh  Deacon  Eliot's  Corner"  (at  Boylston  Street), 
"leading  into  Town  by  the  house  of  Samuel  Sewall, 
Esq.,  as  far  as  Doct.  Oke's  Corner."  Dr.  Thomas 
Oakes  was  a  noted  practitioner,  a  Harvard  graduate 
and  a  Representative  to  the  General  Court.  John 
Dunton,  a  witty  and  garrulous  English  bookseller, 
who  visited  Boston  about  the  year  1686,  expressed 
the  opinion  that  Doctor  Oakes  was  the  greatest  Es- 
culapius  in  the  country.  More  than  a  century  later, 
in  1800,  Newbury  Street  led  from  "Mr.  Morse's  Cor- 
ner Store,  head  of  Essex  Street,  to  Dr.  Jarvis's  Cor- 
ner at  the  turning  to  Trinity  Church."  In  1824  it  be- 
came a  part  of  Washington  Street. 

Boston  became  noted  at  an  early  period  on  account 
of  the  large  number  of  its  lanes  and  alley-ways;  and 
there  appears  to  have  been  a  close  affinity  between 
them  and  the  taverns  and  coffee-houses,  where  citi- 
zens of  all  classes  were  wont  to  resort.  If  only  the 

25 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

ancient  names  of  these  modest  thoroughfares  had  been 
retained,  how  much  more  of  historic  interest  would 
be  associated  with  them!  Can  it  be  seriously  main- 
tained that  Kilby  Street  is  a  better  name  than  Mack- 
erel Lane,  or  that  Prince  Street  is  an  improvement 
over  Black  Horse  Lane?  A  portion  of  Broad  Street 
was  formerly  Flounder  Alley,  and  the  present  High 
Street  was  known  as  Cow  Lane.  Samuel  Gardner 
Drake,  the  historian,  deprecated  the  prevalent  cus- 
tom of  continually  changing  the  names  of  streets. 
Oftentimes  these  changes  appeared  to  have  no  better 
foundation  than  mere  caprice.  Whoever  was  re- 
sponsible, he  wrote,  for  abolishing  Pudding  Lane  in 
favor  of  Devonshire  Street,  should  never  again  have 
been  allowed  to  taste  any  pudding  during  his  natural 
life! 

Salutation  Alley,  at  the  North  End,  derived  its  name 
from  the  Salutation  Inn,  whose  sign  represented  two 
fashionably  attired  gentlemen  in  the  act  of  greeting 
each  other. 

Pig  Lane  was  the  ancient  title  of  Parsons  Street 
in  Brighton,  and  Tileston  Street  at  the  North  End 
was  formerly  Love  Lane. 


26 


AND    ITS    NEIGHBORHOOD 


Avery  Street 

IN  the  early  years  of  the  Colony,  Avery  Street  was 
called  Coleburn's  Lane,  after  William  Coleburn, 
who  is  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Possessions  as  hav- 
ing a  house  and  garden  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Washington  and  Boylston  Streets.  He  also  owned  a 
large  tract  at  the  South  End  of  Boston,  which  was 
known  as  "Colbron's  Field."  Mr.  Coleburn  was  prom- 
inent in  town  affairs,  and  served  as  a  Selectman  many 
years.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  the  present 
Avery  Street  received  the  title  of  Sheafe's  Lane, 
which  it  retained  for  about  a  hundred  years. 

In  the  map  accompanying  the  first  Boston  Direc- 
tory, in  1789,  it  is  called  "Sheep  Lane,"  and  in  the 
Directory  of  1805  it  is  described  as  leading  from 
Newbury  Street  to  the  Hay  Market  Tavern. 

The  Sheafe  family  was  well  known  in  New  Eng- 
land. Henry  Sheafe  was  a  merchant,  and  the 
wharfinger  of  Hancock's  Wharf,  at  the  foot  of  Bat- 
tery Street.  He  was  also  the  Keeper  of  the  State  Ar- 
senal. Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  an  ambitious 
owner  of  real  estate  in  the  vicinity  petitioned  to  have 
Sheafe's  Lane  renamed  a  street,  doubtless  reasoning 
that  the  value  of  his  property  might  thereby  be  in- 

27 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

creased.1  It  was  given  the  name  of  Avery  Street 
in  1826.  From  the  earliest  days  it  has  been  so  nar- 
row that  vehicles  with  difficulty  passed  each  other 
at  any  point.  At  length,  in  1914,  this  contracted 
thoroughfare  was  widened  from  an  average  breadth 
of  thirteen  feet  to  about  twenty-eight  feet.  .  .  . 

John  Avery,  Senior  (1711-1796),  had  a  dwelling- 
house,  shop,  barn  and  woodhouse  on  the  south  cor- 
ner of  Newbury  Street  and  Sheafe's  Lane,  afterward 
known  as  Avery's  Corner.  He  was  a  native  of 
Truro,  on  Cape  Cod,  where  his  boyhood  was  passed. 
After  graduating  at  Harvard  College  in  1731,  he  went 
into  business  and  became  one  of  Boston's  well-known 
merchants.  He  also  was  the  owner  of  a  distillery, 
and  in  the  Assessor's  "Taking  Book"  of  1780  he  is 
styled  a  distiller.  Mr.  Avery  was  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  some  thirty  years. 

The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  a  Boston 
newspaper,  May  24,  1761 :  "A  parcel  of  hearty,  likely 
negroes,  imported  the  last  week  from  Africa,  to  be 
sold.  Enquire  of  Capt.  Wickham  or  Mr.  John 
Avery,  at  his  house,  near  the  'White  Horse,'  in  New- 
bury Street."  The  White  Horse  Tavern  was  es- 
tablished as  early  as  1724,  and  its  site  adjoins  the 
present  Park  Theater.  .  .  .  John  Avery,  the 

1  The  Bostonian  Society's  Publications.    Volume  V.    1910. 

28 


AND   ITS    NEIGHBORHOOD 

younger  (1739-1806),  Harvard  College,  1759,  after 
serving  for  several  years  as  Deputy  Secretary  of  the 
Commonwealth,  succeeded  Samuel  Adams  as  Secre- 
tary in  1780  and  held  that  position  for  a  quarter  of 
a  century.  We  quote  again  from  the  Town  Direc- 
tories. In  that  of  1789  is  to  be  found  the  name  of 
John  Avery,  junior,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  State; 
Office  in  the  Province  House,  in  the  room  adjoining 
the  Council  House.  In  1798  his  office  was  in  "the 
new  State  House,  Beacon  Street."  .  .  .  There 
appears  to  be  no  reason  for  associating,  even  re- 
motely, these  good  citizens  of  Boston  with  John  Avery 
the  pirate,  whose  depredations  in  the  Red  Sea  and 
neighboring  waters  in  1695  were  a  source  of  alarm  to 
mariners. 

As  early  as  1638  Samuel  Maverick  is  said  to  have 
kept  three  negro  slaves  on  Noddle's  Island,  now  East 
Boston.  In  1641  a  statute  of  the  Colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  provided  that  there  should  never  be 
"any  bond  slavery,  villainage  or  captivity  amongst 
us,  unless  it  be  lawful  captives  taken  in  just  wars,  as 
willingly  sell  themselves  or  are  sold  to  us;  and  such 
shall  have  the  liberties  and  Christian  usage  which 
the  law  of  God,  established  in  Israel  concerning  such 
persons,  shall  morally  require;  provided  this  exempts 
none  from  servitude,  who  shall  be  judged  thereto  by 

29 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

authority." 

Slavery,  however,  continued  to  exist  in  the  Colony 
and  Province  until  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  In 
1754  there  were  in  Boston  nearly  one  thousand  negro 
slaves  of  the  age  of  sixteen  years  and  over. 

In  1783  slavery  was  forbidden  in  Massachusetts 
by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  ruled  that 
the  declaration  in  the  State  Constitution  of  1780,  that 
"all  men  are  born  free  and  equal,"  abolished  slavery 
for  all  time.  In  reference  to  the  traffic  in  slaves,  many 
advertisements  appeared  in  early  Boston  newspapers. 
For  example,  April  22,  1728: 

"Two  very  likely  Negro  girls.  Enquire  two  doors 
from  the  Brick  Meeting-house  in  Middle  Street;  At 
which  place  is  to  be  sold  Women's  stays,  children's 
good  callamanco  stiffned-boddy'd  coats,  and  chil- 
dren's stays  of  all  sorts,  and  women's  hoop-coats; 
all  at  very  reasonable  rates." 

January  2,  1764: 

"To  be  Sold  at  Store  No.  12,  on  the  South  Side 
of  the  Town  Dock,  Boston,  cheap  for  Cash:  6  or  7 
Hogsheads  of  simple  Refin'd  Loaf  Sugar;  also  two 
Negro  Men  and  one  Negro  Woman,  who  are  not  sold 
for  any  known  Faults,  and  have  been  some  Years 
in  the  Country." 

In  June,  1765,  a  so-called  White  Negro  was  ex- 

30 


hibited  at  the  sign  of  the  White  Horse,  at  the  South 
End  of  the  Town,  "for  about  one  shilling  Starling  the 
sight." 

From  the  Boston  Evening  Post,  August  6,  1753: 

"A  Gentleman  wants  to  buy  a  Negro  Fellow,  about 
twenty  years  old,  that  can  be  well  recommended  for 
his  Honesty  and  good  Behaviour.  Any  Person  who 
has  such  an  one  to  dispose  of,  may  have  the  cash  down 
for  him. 

"Enquire  of  the  Printer." 

Hogg  Alley 

IT  is  stated  in  Drake's  History  and  Antiquities  of 
Boston,    1856,   that   Avery   Street  was   anciently 
called  Hogg  Alley,  but  this  is  doubtless  incorrect. 

In  the  official  Record  of  the  Streets,  Alleys  and 
Lanes  in  Boston,  which  was  issued  in  1910,  "Hogg 
Alley"  is  described  as  formerly  connecting  the  pres- 
ent Washington  and  Tremont  Streets,  between 
Sheafe's  Lane  and  West  Street.  Keith's  Theatre 
was  built  in  1894  upon  a  portion  of  its  site.  In  the 
Memorial  History  of  Boston,  Vol.  IV,  page  68,  Hogg 
Alley  is  stated  to  have  led  from  the  north  side  of 
the  Lamb  Tavern  (site  of  the  Adams  House) 
obliquely  to  the  stables  in  the  rear.  In  Bonner's  map 
of  1722  it  is  plainly  shown  as  a  continuous  thorough- 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

fare  to  the  Common;  and  it  appears  in  other  maps  of 
as  late  a  date  as  the  Revolutionary  period.  In  a  list 
of  the  names  of  Boston's  thoroughfares,  prepared 
under  the  direction  of  the  Selectmen  in  the  year  1701, 
Hogg  Alley  was  mentioned  as  the  "New  Alley,  be- 
tween Mr.  Blyn's  and  Durant's,  leading  westerly  with 
the  Common."  Nathaniel  Ingersoll  Bowditch,  the 
noted  conveyancer,  wrote  in  one  of  his  "Gleaner" 
Articles  in  the  Boston  Transcript,  July  20,  1855,  tnat 
Hogg  Alley,  then  long  since  discontinued,  ran  from 
Washington  Street,  and  formed  a  part  of  the  Adams 
House  estate  and  that  next  adjoining.  ...  It 
was  officially  described  as  leading  from  a  point  just 
south  of  the  Lion  Tavern  (the  site  of  Keith's  Thea- 
tre) to  Tremont  Street,  a  little  north  of  Sheaf's  Lane. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Townspeople,  September  6, 
1763,  a  Committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  best 
methods  of  removing  the  nuisance  in  the  passageway 
leading  from  the  main  street  to  the  Common,  and 
called  Hogg  Alley. 

This  Committee  gave  in  their  opinion  at  an  ad- 
journed meeting,  September  21,  1763,  that  this  Alley 
was  not  a  greater  nuisance  than  such  narrow  Pas- 
sages generally  are,  and  that  the  danger  arising  from 
horses  and  cows  passing  through  the  same  might  be 
prevented,  if  the  Town  thought  proper  to  fix  Turn- 

32 


AND    ITS    NEIGHBORHOOD 

pikes  at  each  end  of  the  Alley.     This  was  accord- 
ingly done. 

At  a  Town  meeting,  March  23,  1773,  a  Committee 
previously  appointed  made  a  Report  that  in  pursuance 
of  their  trust  they  had  visited  Hogg  Alley,  and  found 
that  it  had  been  for  many  years  a  great  nuisance, 
owing  to  the  alteration  of  the  old  natural  course  of 
the  water,  which  used  to  run  from  Beacon  Hill  down 
to  the  Gate  entering  into  the  Common  a  little  below 
"Sheriff  GreanleafFs  Garden,"  and  that  from  thence 
there  was  a  large  water  course  running  down  and 
terminating  in  a  Pond  which  bears  near,  south  of  the 
Frog  Pond.  The  Committee  further  report  that  al- 
though Hogg  Alley  is  mentioned  in  the  Selectmen's 
List  of  the  several  Streets  and  Lanes  of  the  Town 
in  1708,  they  do  not  find  that  it  was  ever  claimed  by 
the  Town,  or  as  a  Town  way;  for  in  the  year  1702 
there  was  no  such  Alley,  and  one  Durant  then  sold  to 
Thomas  Blin  a  parcel  of  land  lying  to  the  north  of 
said  Durant's  property,  called  the  Lamb.  .  .  . 

"The  Committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  only 
proper  way  to  carry  the  water  from  against  Winter 
Street  to  the  said  Gate  or  near  it,  is  to  continue  the 
paved  gutter  next  the  Mall,  opposite  Winter  Street 
down  to  or  near  the  Gate  aforesaid,  and  there  to  con- 
duct the  water  under  a  Stone  Bridge  three  feet  wide 
across  the  Mall." 

33 


THE   NORTH   LOT 


THE  NORTH  LOT 

Robert  Wyard,  Bricklayer 

GOVERNOR  JOHN  WINTHROP  and  his  as- 
sociates secured  the  peninsula  by  a  grant  from 
King  Charles  I  under  the  Colonial  charter,  and  also 
by  purchase  from  the  Indians,  and  from  William 
Blackstone,  the  pioneer  white  settler,  in  1634.  The 
latter  held  his  title  by  the  right  of  possession.  Early 
transfers  of  land  were  not  recorded. 

The  so-called  Book  of  Possessions,  dating  from 
about  1645,  contains  a  list  of  the  land  owners  in  Bos- 
ton at  that  period,  and  this  is  the  Foundation  of  all 
titles  to  real  estate  within  the  town  limits. 

Governor  John  Leverett,  whose  residence  was  on 
the  site  of  the  Sears  Building,  owned  the  lot  on  the 
south  corner  of  Winter  and  Tremont  Streets,  measur- 
ing about  210  feet  on  the  former  by  130  feet  along  the 
Common,  and  then  known  as  "Leverett's  Pasture." 

One  Robert  Wyard  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  a  brick- 
layer, of  good  Scottish  ancestry,  bought  the  south- 
erly portion  of  this  lot  about  the  year  1664.  This  is 
the  northern  part  of  the  Cathedral  land.  Wyard  con- 

37 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

veyed  the  property  by  warranty  deed,  duly  recorded 
and  witnessed  by  Gov.  Winthrop,  September  28,  1666, 
to  John  Wampas,  an  Indian,  of  Boston,  for  £78 
sterling.  It  was  thus  described:  "A  certaine  mes- 
suage or  tennement,  abutting  westward  on  the  Com- 
mon, north  on  land  now  or  late  of  Hudson  Leverett 
[son  of  the  Governor],  east  on  Alexander  Baker, 
rope-maker,  and  south  on  John  Cross;  ...  to- 
gether with  the  dwelling-house  that  standeth  thereon ; 
as  also  all  ffences,  trees,  gardens,  wayes,  waters  and 
easements  to  the  same  anywayes  belonging." 

From  the  Hartford  Land  Records,  it  appears  that 
as  early  as  the  year  1639  Robert  Wyard  was  the 
owner  of  3^2  acres  bordering  on  the  Connecticut 
River,  and  abutting  upon  a  thoroughfare  known  as 
"the  road  to  the  Ox  Pasture." 

Wyard  occupied  a  small  frame  house  on  his  lot. 
He  was  a  maker  of  bricks  and  tiles,  digging  his  clay 
before  the  first  of  November,  and  turning  it  over  in 
February  or  March,  or  about  a  month  before  he  made 
it  into  bricks,  which  were  9  inches  long  by  2}4  and  4^ 
inches  in  thickness  and  breadth  respectively.1 

These  are  approximately  the  dimensions  of  the 
standard-sized  bricks  of  the  present  day,  which  were 
regulated  by  an  English  statute  of  the  year  1625. 

1  Walter  K.  Watkins:   The  Boston  Budget  and  Beacon.    Febru- 
ary 10,  1906. 

38 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


John  Wampas,  Indian 

THE  fact  that  a  portion  of  the  Cathedral  land  de- 
rives its  title  from  an  aboriginal  American,  is 
of  historic  interest.  His  neighbors  were  all  of  Brit- 
ish birth  and  ancestry ;  and  while  this  Indian  was  still 
in  possession  of  the  estate,  King  Philip's  War  had 
begun,  and  members  of  his  tribe,  as  allies  of  the  Nar- 
ragansetts,  were  in  arms  against  the  colonists.  Wam- 
pas claimed  to  be  a  Sagamore  or  petty  Chief  of  the 
Hassanamesit  Indians,  a  small  tribe  or  subdivision 
of  the  Nipmucks.  He  also  maintained  that  he  was 
the  rightful  owner  of  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  so- 
called  Nipmuck  country.  This  region  was  mostly 
within  the  original  limits  of  the  Township  of  Mendon, 
Massachusetts,  and  here  the  Indians  held  reserved 
rights  to  hunt  and  fish. 

At  a  Court  held  at  Natick  in  September,  1681,  and 
presided  over  by  Daniel  Gookin,  Senior,  General 
Magistrate  of  all  the  Indian  towns,  several  of  the 
Nipmuck  elders  testified  that  they  had  known  John 
Wampas  from  a  child;  that  he  was  a  son  of  their 
former  associate  "old  Woampas,"  and  had  no  more 
right  to  land  in  their  country  than  any  other  common 
Indian.  They  admitted,  however,  that  on  account 

39 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

of  his  acquaintance  with  English  colonists,  they  had 
asked  Wampas  to  "enquire  after  and  endeavor  to  get 
settled  and  recorded  the  Indian  title  and  right"  to 
certain  lands  in  the  Nipmuck  Reservation.  But  they 
denied  having  given  him  any  authority  to  dispose  of 
those  lands.1  However,  Wampas  and  members  of 
his  tribe  did  convey  to  Joshua  Hewes  and  other  resi- 
dents of  Boston,  a  tract  eight  miles  square,  compris- 
ing the  present  township  of  Sutton.  And  in  May, 
1704,  the  General  Court  confirmed  to  the  purchasers 
their  title  to  this  land  purchased  from  the  Indians. 

Within  the  boundaries  of  the  Nipmuck  country, 
which  stretched  eastward  from  the  Connecticut  River 
to  the  border  Settlements  of  the  colonists,  were  some 
of  the  most  fertile  lands  in  Massachusetts.  With  the 
exception  of  a  few  families  at  Brookfield,  no  English 
people  were  living  in  that  region  when  Philip's  War 
began. 

The  results  of  that  war  were  disastrous  to  the 
Nipmucks,  who  deserved  their  fate  according  to  the 
rules  of  war,  "because  they  had  treacherously  risen 
up  against  those  with  whom  they  had  been  living  in 
peace  and  amity. 

"Without  giving  warning,  they  came  out  of  the 

1  For  additional  details,  see  Lieutenant  Joshua  Hewes  and  Some 
of  His  Descendants,  by  Eben  Putnam;  1913;  a  volume  issued 
since  this  sketch  was  first  prepared. 

40 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


forests  and  fell  upon  houses  and  settlements  from 
which  no  provocation  had  proceeded.  .  .  .  The 
power  of  the  Nipmucks  was  broken  in  Philip's  War, 
and  the  whole  region  was  opened  to  the  colonists."1 
And  among  the  latter  there  prevailed  a  feeling  of 
deep-seated  indignation,  on  account  of  the  faithless- 
ness of  the  members  of  an  Indian  tribe,  which  had 
been  previously  friendly. 

John  Wampas  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of  the 
English  language,  having  in  his  youth  attended  the 
so-called  Indian  College  at  Cambridge,  which  was 
founded  in  1664  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  New  England ;  a  philanthropic  though 
unsuccessful  enterprise,  designed  for  the  education 
of  Indians.  A  small  brick  building  on  the  grounds  of 
Harvard  College  accommodated  about  twenty  schol- 
ars. Owing  to  the  small  attendance,  this  building 
was  soon  given  over  to  other  uses,  and  a  printing- 
press  was  established  therein.  It  was  taken  down  in 
1695.  Of  the  Indian  youths  who  received  instruc- 
tion there,  some  returned  to  their  former  mode  of  liv- 
ing, and  others  entered  upon  different  callings.  Wam- 
pas followed  the  sea  for  a  time,  being  termed  a  mari- 
ner in  legal  papers. 

A  few  Indian  scholars  received  instruction  at  a 

1Abijah  P.  Marvin.    History  of  Worcester  County,  Massachu- 
setts.    I.     15. 

41 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

small  Grammar  School  which  was  started  in  Cam- 
bridge about  the  year  1642,  and  was  maintained  for 
nearly  half  a  century  by  the  eminent  teacher,  Elijah 
Corlett.  We  quote  from  a  contemporary  tract  en- 
titled "New  England's  First  Fruits" : 

"And  by  the  side  of  the  Colledge  a  faire  Grammar 
Schoole  for  the  training  up  of  young  scholars  and  fit- 
ting them  for  Academical  learning.  .  .  .  Master 
Corlet  is  the  Mr.  who  hath  very  well  approved  him- 
self for  his  abilities,  dexterity  and  painfulnesse  in 
teaching  and  education  of  the  youths  under  him." 

The  site  of  this  school  was  on  the  west  side  of  the 
present  Holyoke  Street,  about  midway  between  Har- 
vard Square  and  Mount  Auburn  Street. 

The  Indian  race  has  had  but  one  representative 
among  the  graduates  of  Harvard  College,  Caleb 
Cheeshahteaumuck,  of  the  Class  of  1665;  the  son  of 
a  petty  chief,  who  lived  at  Holmes'  Hole,  Martha's 
Vineyard.  He  died  of  tuberculosis  in  the  following 
year,  at  the  age  of  twenty. 

John  Wampas  married  the  daughter  of  an  Aspe- 
tuck  chief,  named  Romanock,  who  was  reputed  to  be 
a  great  warrior,  and  the  "hero  of  many  a  fight  with 
strange  Indians."  His  home  was  at  a  place  called 
Pawchequage,  near  the  Hudson  River,  and  a  three 
days'  journey  from  the  waters  of  Massachusetts  Bay 

42 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


over  the  old  trails.  The  maiden  name  of  his  daugh- 
ter, the  dusky  helpmate  of  John  Wampas,  was  Praske, 
but  she  was  called  Ann  after  her  marriage.  In  1660 
Romanock  made  over  to  her  a  parcel  of  land  in  the 
Township  of  Fairfield,  Connecticut.  Wampas  as- 
serted his  right  to  the  possession  of  this  land  in  1678, 
and  applied  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut, 
and  also  to  the  Lords  of  the  King's  Council  at  Lon- 
don, for  confirmation  of  his  title  thereto,  but  without 
success. 

In  November,  1671,  John  Wampas,  "Indian  and 
Seaman,"  sold  to  Thomas  Stedman  of  New  London, 
Connecticut,  Mariner,  one  hundred  acres  of  upland 
and  meadow,  being  a  portion  of  a  tract  fourteen  miles 
square  appertaining  to  the  said  Wampas  as  his  proper 
right  and  inheritance.  This  large  tract  lay  between 
the  townships  of  Marlborough  and  Mendon,  in  the 
Nipmuck  country. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  although  Wampas  was  said 
to  have  attended  the  Indian  College  in  his  youth,  he 
appears  to  have  been  unable  even  to  write  his  own 
name,  and  in  its  stead  affixed  his  mark  to  legal  docu- 
ments. His  lands  were  said  to  have  been  an  inheri- 
tance from  his  mother,  a  Nipmuck  squaw  and  the 
wife  of  "Old  Wampas,"  of  whom  mention  has  been 
made.  His  conveyance  of  various  parcels  of  real  es- 

43 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

tate,  duly  recorded,  shows  that  he  had  a  proper  right 
and  title  thereto,  despite  the  assertions  to  the  con- 
trary of  some  of  his  Indian  acquaintances.  Yet  the 
validity  of  a  title  derived  from  a  Red-skin  was  some- 
times questioned;  and  Sir  Edmund  Andros  has  been 
quoted  as  saying  that  the  signature  of  an  Indian  was 
of  no  more  value  than  the  scratch  of  a  bear's  claw. 

According  to  the  Boston  Town  Records,  John 
Wamponi  (alias  Wampas),  an  Indian,  and  Ann 
Praske,  daughter  of  the  Chief  Romanock,  were  mar- 
ried on  the  twenty-first  day  of  May,  1661,  by  "Major" 
Humphrey  Atherton.  He  was  a  son  of  Edmund,  of 
Atherton  Manor,  in  Lancashire,  and  was  born  at 
Preston  in  that  County  in  the  year  1609. 

The  ancestral  estate  dates  from  the  reign  of  King 
John,  in  the  early  years  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
when  Robert  of  Atherton,  Sheriff  of  Lancashire,  lived 
there.  The  Atherton  family  held  large  tracts  of  land 
which  were  rich  in  stone  quarries,  coal  mines  and  iron 
ore;  they  were  prominent  among  the  wealthy  com- 
moners of  England.  Humphrey  Atherton  married 
Mary,  daughter  of  John  Wales,  of  Idle,  a  town  of 
Yorkshire.  He  was  said  to  have  been  barely  fifteen 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  his  wife 
being  about  a  year  younger.  They  had  twelve  chil- 
dren, among  them  Rest,  Increase,  Thankful,  Hope 

44 


THE   NORTH   LOT 


or  Hopeful,  Consider,  Patience  and  Watching.  The 
parents  and  their  three  eldest  children  came  to  Amer- 
ica about  1636,  sailing  from  Bristol,  England,  in  the 
ship  James,  and  settled  in  Dorchester.  Here  he 
served  as  a  Selectman  thirteen  years,  and  as  a  Repre- 
sentative nine  years.  In  1645  he  was  chosen  one  of 
the  "wardens  for  the  schoole,"  being  thus  a  member 
of  the  first  School  Committee  in  America.  He  was 
much  employed  in  negotiations  with  the  Indians. 

Edward  Johnson,  the  historian,  in  his  Wonder- 
working Providences  of  Sion's  Savior,  wrote  of  him 
that  "although  he  was  slow  of  speech,  yet  was  he 
downright  for  the  business;  one  of  cheerful  spirit, 
and  i'ntire  for  the  Country." 

Humphrey  Atherton  was  Captain  of  the  Dorches- 
ter Train-band  in  1644,  and  Commander  of  the  Suf- 
folk Regiment  in  1649.  He  was  also  a  Captain  in  the 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company,  and  aft- 
erward held  the  highest  military  position  in  the  Col- 
ony, that  of  Major-General.  In  dealing  with  the  In- 
dians, while  keenly  appreciating  their  ignorance  and 
debased  condition,  he  showed  great  energy  and  firm- 
ness in  time  of  war. 

One  of  General  Atherton's  sons,  Hope  Atherton, 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1665.  He  was  a  class- 
mate of  Caleb  Cheeshahteaumuck,  of  Martha's  Vine- 

45 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

yard,  before  mentioned  as  the  only  aboriginal  gradu- 
ate of  the  College.  Hope  Atherton  was  the  Chaplain 
of  Captain  William  Turner's  Company,  which  served 
during  Philip's  War.  Another  son,  Consider  Ath- 
erton, was  a  member  of  Captain  John  Withington's 
Company,  which  took  part  in  the  Expedition  against 
Quebec,  under  Governor  Sir  William  Phipps,  in 
1690.  .  .  . 

On  the  afternoon  or  evening  of  September  16, 
1 66 1,  Major-General  Humphrey  Atherton  reviewed 
some  of  his  troops  on  Boston  Common ;  and  while  rid- 
ing homeward  through  the  South  End  of  the  Town, 
in  the  darkness  of  the  very  early  morn  of  the  follow- 
ing day,  his  horse  came  into  collision  with  a  cow, 
which  was  lying  in  the  road,  and  General  Atherton 
was  thrown  to  the  ground  and  killed. 

The  following  anecdote  exemplifies  his  courage  and 
firmness  of  character :  On  one  occasion  he  was  sent 
with  twenty  men  to  interview  an  Indian  Sachem 
named  Pessacus,  and  to  demand  the  payment  of  three 
hundred  fathom  of  wampum  which  he  owed  the 
Colony. 

Pessacus  was  inclined  to  temporize  and  refused  an 
audience  to  his  would-be  interviewers;  whereupon 
General  Atherton  entered  the  chief's  wigwam,  pistol 
in  hand,  and  dragged  him  out  from  among  a  large 


THE   NORTH   LOT 


number  of  his  followers,  threatening  to  kill  any  In- 
dian who  should  attempt  to  interfere.  .  .  .  Fol- 
lowing is  his  epitaph : 

"Here  lies  our  Captain,  and  Majr  of  Suffolk  was 
withall;  A  Godly  Magestrate  was  he,  &  Major  Gen- 
erall.  Two  Troops  of  Horses  with  him  here  came, 
such  worth  his  love  did  crave;  Ten  Companies  of 
Foot  also  mourning  march'd  to  his  Grave.  Let  all 
that  Read  be  sure  to  keep  ye  faith  as  he  hath  done. 
With  Christ  he  lives  now  Crown'd,  his  name  was 
Humphrey  Atherton."1 

Neither  by  heredity,  nor  by  early  associations  and 
environment,  was  Wampas  fitted  to  become  a  law- 
abiding  and  exemplary  citizen.  He  appears  to  have 
been  of  an  irascible  disposition;  easily  becoming  in- 
volved in  brawls  and  contentions.  The  Records  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts  afford  evidence  of 
this.  A  son  of  Secretary  Edward  Rawson,  Grindall 
Rawson,  afterward  the  minister  at  Mendon,  who 
preached  to  the  Nipmucks  in  their  own  language,  tes- 
tified "That  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  September, 
1677,  being  by  Cambridge  Meeting-House,  by  reason 
of  an  All-Arme  then  made,  he  heard  John  Wampass 
ask  the  people  there  whether  they  ever  saw  an  Indian 
before.  Whereto  it  being  answered  'yes,  twice,'  then 

1  William  Dana  Orcutt  in  Good  Old  Dorchester. 

47 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

he  in  a  surly  manner  said:  'and  you  shall  feel  them 
too;'  and  further  saith  not.  Taken  upon  Oath  the 
first  day  of  October,  1677. 

Before  me,  Daniel  Gookin,  Senr." 

And  again:  "Information  against  John  Wampas, 
Indian,  that  since  he  came  out  of  England,  about  4 
months  past,  he  takes  to  no  employment,  but  travils  up 
and  downe  in  a  vagrant,  idle  way,  among  English  and 
Indians,  vapouring  of  the  great  quantity  of  land  he 
has;  offering  to  sell  that  which  is  other  mens'  pos- 
session and  improvement,  both  English  and  Indians. 
The  said  Wompas  is  a  very  disorderly  person.  .  .  . 
About  the  beginning  of  September  he  came  to  Natick, 
where  he  bought  a  barrel  of  cider,  and  got  about  15 
or  1 6  men  and  women,  and  drank  it  all  out  presently, 
whereby  himself  and  all  the  rest  were  made  drunk. 
He  has  upon  a  very  small  occasion  used  threatening 
speeches  to  some  English,  particularly  to  Mrs.  Grace 
Oliver  (the  wife  of  Thomas  Oliver,  of  Cambridge), 
at  her  own  house.  He  hath  escaped  from  prison,  and 
is  runne  away  upon  October  i,  1677."  At  a  County 
Court  held  at  Cambridge  on  the  following  day,  being 
convicted  of  the  above-named  misdemeanors,  and  also 
of  endeavoring  to  work  discontent  among  the  In- 
dians, "giving  out  expressions  rendering  him  justly 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


to  be  suspected  of  conspiring  with  ye  enemy  against 
us,"  Wampas  was  ordered  to  stand  committed  until 
the  next  Court  of  Assistants,  there  to  make  answer 
for  the  same,  and  meantime  he  was  sent  to  the  Prison 
in  Boston. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  his  failings  Wampas  attained  a 
certain  distinction,  both  among  the  members  of  his 
tribe  and  in  Boston,  where  he  was  well  known.  By 
nature  intelligent  and  shrewd,  having  executive  abil- 
ity, and  being  familiar  with  the  language  and  usages 
of  the  colonists,  among  whom  he  lived  in  his  home 
on  the  Cathedral  Site,  and  with  whom  he  had  fre- 
quent business  relations,  Wampas  appears  to  have 
conceived  an  exaggerated  idea  of  his  own  importance, 
and  to  have  partially  yielded  to  his  primitive  savage 
instincts. 

At  that  time  opportunities  for  conviviality  seem  to 
have  been  numerous  in  Boston,  and  Cotton  Mather  is 
reported  to  have  said  that  almost  every  other  house 
was  a  tavern.  Drinking  and  smoking  in  houses  of 
entertainment  were  carried  to  excess;  and  a  statute 
provided  that  no  one  should  take  tobacco  in  any  com- 
mon victualing-house,  except  in  a  private  room;  the 
object  being  to  avoid  giving  offense  to  the  inn-keeper 
or  any  guest.  And  every  infraction  of  this  statute 
involved  the  payment  of  half  a  crown  in  English 

49 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

money.1 

Ann  Wampas  died  in  1676.  At  that  time  her  hus- 
band was  imprisoned  for  a  small  debt,  at  London, 
England,  as  appears  from  a  letter  dated  August  22, 
1676,  written  by  command  of  King  George  III,  and 
signed  by  "Mr.  Secretary  Williamson."  This  letter 
was  addressed  to  "our  trusty  and  well-beloved  Sir 
John  Leveritt,  Knt;  Governour  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  New  England,"  and  represented  that  the  said 
John  Wampas  owned  lands  in  the  Colony,  which  he 
had  held  for  many  years,  having  taken  the  oath  of  al- 
legiance as  a  British  Subject.  And  the  Secretary  asks 
that  Wampas  be  restored  to  his  lands,  or  have  liberty 
to  sell  them  for  his  present  relief.  This  petition 
was  doubtless  granted,  for  on  June  second,  1677,  John 
Wampas,  alias  White,  Seaman,  sold  his  home  lot, 
"Scituate  near  the  trayning  feild  in  Boston,"  to 
Joshua  Hughes,  cordwainer,  and  others  of  Boston, 
for  £20,  thus  confirming  a  previous  conveyance  by 
his  wife  Ann  to  the  same  grantees. 

In  the  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series, 
London,  1896  (Volume  10,  Document  928),  ap- 
pears the  following:  "March  14,  1679.  Petition  of 
John  Wampas,  alias  White,  an  Indian  and  inhabitant 
of  Boston.  Became  by  marriage  of  Anne,  daughter 
*  The  Bostonian.  Vol.  II.,  p.  19. 

50 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


of  Romanock,  late  Sachem  of  Aspaluck  and  Susqua- 
nagh,  on  death  of  the  said  Sachem  sole  proprietor  of 
the  land  on  which  Sutton  in  Connecticut  is  built. 
About  19  years  since  his  father-in-law  having  deliv- 
ered up  the  possession  of  the  lands  to  him,  he  sold 
part  to  Capt.  Dennison  and  Amos  Richardson  of  Ston- 
ington  in  Connecticut  for  the  sum  of  about  £530 
sterling. 

"Is  by  the  evil  practice  of  Major  Nathan  Gold  and 
others  of  Fairfield,  kept  out  of  his  rights,  and  having 
gone  to  demand  possession,  was  imprisoned  in  May 
last,  whence  he  made  his  escape  to  New  York,  and  is 
forced  to  come  to  England  to  seek  relief." 

John  Wampas,  after  being  liberated  from  prison, 
returned  to  Boston  in  1677.  He  appears  to  have 
been  a  rover  by  nature,  and  fond  of  adventure  and 
excitement.  And  without  doubt  he  had  plenty  of 
both.  Yet  he  has  received  scant  notice  from  his- 
torians. .  .  .  Again  visiting  England,  his  death 
occurred  in  the  Parish  of  Stepney,  a  metropolitan 
borough  of  the  East  End  of  London,  in  September, 
1679. 

The  Will  of  John  Wampas,  alias  White,  was  proved 
on  October  first  of  that  year.  By  it  he  divided  his 
lands  among  certain  of  his  Indian  Friends;  be- 
queathing portions  also  to  George  Owen  of  London, 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

chirurgeon;  Edward  Pratt,  victualler,  of  Shadwell, 
a  suburb  of  London,  and  John  Blake  of  Plymouth, 
New  England,  husbandman. 

From  Records  of  the  Suffolk  Probate  Court,  it  ap- 
pears that  Joshua  Hughes  was  administrator  of  the 
estate  of  Ann  Wampas.  We  quote  from  these  Rec- 
ords (Vol.  12,  page  10) :  "The  Deposition  of  Pru- 
dence Delany,  aged  eighteen  years,  testifieth  that 
about  halfe  an  hour  before  Anne  Wampus  was 
scalded,  I  heard  her  say  that  Joshua  Hughes  should 
have  all  the  Estate  she  had  when  she  dyed,  and  that 
shee  wished  shee  had  a  thousand  pounds  for  his  sake, 
hee  should  have  it,  every  farthing." 

Other  depositions,  of  similar  tenor,  are  on  record, 
from  which  it  appears  probable  that  Hughes  had 
served  in  the  capacity  of  legal  guardian  of  Ann 
Wampas. 

Joshua  Hewes 

JOSHUA  HEWES  or  Hughes,  the  next  owner  of 
the  north  lot,  was  a  son  of  the  emigrant,  Lieut. 
Joshua  Hewes,  of  Royston,  Herts,  England,  who 
came  over  in  1633  and  settled  at  Roxbury.  The  Bos- 
ton Records  of  the  following  year  mention  "Sargeant 
Hues  Corne  field  neere  Rocksbury  gate."  He  was  the 

52 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


original  owner  of  the  estate  on  Washington  Street, 
opposite  Vernon  Street,  where  stood  the  famous  Grey- 
hound Tavern  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  previ- 
ous to  the  Revolution.  Joshua  Hewes,  Senior,  was 
Lieutenant  of  the  Roxbury  train-band,  and  became  a 
wealthy  merchant  and  importer  of  dry-goods  and 
wearing  apparel. 

John  Eliot,  the  "Apostle  to  the  Indians,"  who  came 
over  from  England  in  1631,  lived  alongside  the  Grey- 
hound Tavern,  which  was  used  as  a  recruiting  sta- 
tion during  the  wars  with  the  French  and  Indians. 
The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the  Boston 
Gazette,  April  20,  1741 :  "To  be  seen  at  the  Grey- 
hound Tavern,  a  wild  creature,  which  was  caught  in 
the  woods  about  eighty  miles  to  the  westward  of  this 
place,  called  a  catamount.  It  has  a  tail  like  a  Lyon; 
its  legs  are  like  bears',  its  claws  like  an  eagle,  its  eyes 
like  a  tyger.  He  is  exceedingly  ravenous,  and  de- 
vours all  sorts  of  creatures  that  he  can  come  near. 
Its  agility  is  surprising;  it  will  leap  30  feet  at  one 
jump,  notwithstanding  it  is  but  three  months  old. 
Whoever  wishes  to  see  this  creature,  may  come  to  the 
place  aforesaid,  paying  one  shilling  each,  and  shall 
be  welcome  for  their  money." 

The  Greyhound  Tavern  was  demolished  early  in 

53 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

1775,  as  a  measure  of  military  necessity.1  On  Au- 
gust 27,  1742,  Sergeant  Joshua  Hewes  was  directed 
by  the  Town  "to  see  to  it  that  the  people  of  Roxbury 
in  every  house  or  some  two  or  more  houses,  joyne 
together  for  the  breeding  of  salt  peeter  in  some  out- 
house used  for  poultry  or  the  like,  and  to  give  them 
directions  about  the  same." 

Before  the  year  1785  the  only  terra  firma  route 
from  the  Boston  peninsula  to  Roxbury  and  other 
neighboring  towns,  was  over  the  Neck,  a  narrow,  low- 
lying  strip  of  land,  which  was  sometimes  washed  by 
the  Spring  tides,  the  water  coming  up  to  the  knees  of 
horses.  Its  middle  portion  was  paved  with  cobble- 
stones from  the  adjacent  beaches.  The  route  of  the 
old  Boston  Neck  may  be  traced  by  following  Wash- 
ington Street  from  Beach  Street  (a  suggestive  name) 
to  Roxbury,  the  narrowest  part  being  near  Dover 
Street.2 

Wild  fowl  in  abundance  inhabited  the  marshes  on 
either  side,  and  sportsmen  were  wont  to  resort  thither, 
until  shooting  was  prohibited  in  1713. 

In  the  first  years  of  the  Colony  straying  animals 
were  a  source  of  annoyance,  and  the  law  required 
that  every  man  should  "make  his  fences  sufficient  for 

1  Stephen  Jenkins.    The  Old  Boston  Post-Road. 
1 S.  A.  Drake.    Old  Landmarks  of  Boston. 

54 


THE   NORTH   LOT 


all  his  planting-ground  on  the  necke."  Owners  were 
held  accountable  for  all  damage  caused  by  their  un- 
ruly cattle.  At  a  Town  meeting,  February  23,  1634, 
it  was  agreed  by  general  consent  that  all  barren  cat- 
tle whatsoever  (except  draft  animals),  all  weaned 
calves  20  weeks  old,  "weaned  mayle  kidds,"  and  all 
swine  above  10  weeks  old,  should  be  kept  abroad  from 
off  the  Neck. 

In  winter  especially  this  was  a  dreary  and  desolate 
place,  and  travel  thereover  was  not  without  risks.  To 
exemplify  this  we  quote  from  the  Boston  News-Let- 
ter, February  first,  1713: 

"On  Friday  night  one  Bacon,  of  Roxbury,  going 
home  in  his  slade  with  three  horses,  was  bewilder'd  in 
the  dark;  himself  found  dead  with  the  cold;  next 
morning  one  of  the  horses  drowned  in  the  Marsh,  the 
other  two  not  yet  heard  from." 

Monday,  January  4,  1720: 

"On  Wednesday  Night  last  we  had  here  a  Flurry 
of  Snow,  with  a  Gust  of  Wind  at  South-East,  wherein 
two  Men  on  Horse-back  going  over  our  Neck,  mist 
their  Path;  their  Horses  were  Froze  to  Death.  The 
men  were  also  much  Froze,  and  at  last  got  to  Mr. 
Miers's,  and  are  likely  to  live."  Samuel  Mears  was 
landlord  of  the  George  Tavern,  which  stood  near  the 
old  boundary  line  between  Roxbury  and  Boston. 

55 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

There  are  many  instances  on  record  of  people  having 
lost  their  way  on  Boston  Neck,  which  was  also  the 
resort  of  foot-pads,  especially  after  nightfall. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1778,  during  a  severe 
blizzard,  William  Bishop,  of  Cumberland,  a  Town  in 
the  northeastern  corner  of  Rhode  Island,  was  return- 
ing from  Boston  to  his  home  with  a  team  of  two 
oxen  and  a  horse,  when  he  missed  his  way  in  the  thick 
snow,  while  crossing  the  Neck,  and  floundered  upon 
Lamb's  Dam,  where  he  and  the  animals  perished  from 
exposure.1 

In  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
Neck  was  hardly  more  than  a  narrow  tract  of  wilder- 
ness. The  Boston  News-Letter,  July,  1713,  contains 
this  item: 

"On  the  fourth  of  July  Captain  Lamb  killed  a  large 
Moose,  upward  of  seven  Foot  long,  at  the  back  of  his 
house  in  Roxbury." 

The  Captain  Lamb  here  mentioned  was  probably 
identical  with  Colonel  Joshua  Lamb,  who  owned  the 
Bull  Pasture,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Neck,  and  not 
far  from  the  George  Tavern.  He  built  "Lamb's 
Dam,"  near  the  present  line  of  Northampton  Street, 
as  a  protection  to  his  marsh  land.  Many  years  aft- 
erward, during  the  Siege  of  Boston,  this  Dam  was  an 

XF.   S.  Drake.     The  Town  of  Roxbury. 

56 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


important  strategic  point. 

Among  the  larger  fauna  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Boston  at  the  time  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  wolves 
were  numerous  and  bold;  catamounts,  lynxes,  bears 
and  foxes  abounded  in  the  region  of  the  out-lying 
plantations.  Moose  were  not  uncommon  within  twenty 
miles  of  the  Town,  especially  in  Essex  County. 
Thomas  Morton,  an  English  lawyer  and  adventurer, 
in  his  New  English  Canaan,  1637,  described  the  "Elke, 
which  the  Salvages  call  a  Mose"  .  .  .  "It  is  a 
very  large  Deare,"  he  wrote,  "with  a  very  faire  head, 
and  a  broade  palme,  like  the  palme  of  a  fallow  Deare's 
horn,  but  much  bigger,  and  is  6  foote  wide  betweene 
the  tipps.  .  .  .  He  is  of  the  biggness  of  a  great 
horse."  .  .  .  And  now,  having  wandered  some- 
what from  our  subject  in  following  Lieutenant  Joshua 
Hewes  to  his  home  in  Roxbury,  we  will  retrace  our 
steps  over  the  Neck  into  Boston  Town  again. 

Joshua  Hewes,  the  younger  (1644-1706),  was  a 
native  of  Roxbury.  He  enlisted  under  the  command 
of  Major  Thomas  Savage  and  served  for  some  months 
during  the  early  part  of  Philip's  War.  His  name  ap- 
pears on  the  Boston  tax-lists  from  about  1674  to 
1691.  Besides  the  estate  now  covered  by  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  he  owned  lands  in  the  Nipmuck  country. 
In  the  Town  Records  he  is  described  as  an  innkeeper, 

57 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

and  in  legal  documents  as  a  cordwainer. 

Rev.  John  Eliot  said  of  him  that  "he  came  into  the 
land  a  single  man  about  the  seventh  month  of  the  year 
1633."  He  served  about  three  months  with  Major 
Savage,  and  was  a  member  of  an  expedition  to  Brook- 
field  early  in  March,  1676.  Where  he  lived  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  residence  in  Boston  is  not  known; 
but  it  is  probable  that  his  home  was  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Mill  Pond,  near  the  present  North  Rail- 
way Station.  No  purchase  or  sale  of  real  estate  is 
recorded  in  his  name  until  he  became  the  owner  of  a 
portion  of  the  present  Cathedral  land  in  1677.  He 
was  a  Deputy  to  the  General  Court  from  Roxbury, 
and  a  Selectman  of  that  town.1 

The  northerly  lot  remained  in  the  possession  of 
the  Hughes  family  for  nearly  fifty  years.  The  Will 
of  Joshua  Hughes,  dated  January  25,  1704,  author- 
ized the  widow  to  sell  his  "housing  and  land  lying  in 
ye  Common  or  Training  Field  at  the  South  end  of 
Boston."  His  six  children,  Joshua,  Samuel,  Benja- 
min, Mary,  Hannah  and  Sarah,  were  named  as  residu- 
ary legatees.  The  next  conveyance  is  dated  Febru- 
ary 15,  1725,  when  the  several  heirs  sold  the  estate 
to  John  Bushell  for  £210. 

1  Eben  Putnam.     Lieutenant  Joshua  Hewes.     A  New  England 
Pioneer.     1913. 

58 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


John  Bushell,  Printer 

AT  that  time  the  owners  of  the  Winter  Street  cor- 
ner lot  were  James  Williams,  James  Fosdick, 
William  Manley  and  Samuel  Banister.  To  the  last 
named  also  belonged  the  adjoining  estate  on  the  east, 
toward  Washington  Street;  and  John  Bushell  had 
bought  the  southerly  lot  the  year  before,  so  that  he 
was  the  owner  of  almost  the  whole  Cathedral  Site. 

He  was  a  housewright  or  builder,  well-to-do  but 
uneducated,  as  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  affixed  his 
mark  to  legal  papers.  His  son  John  Bushell,  Junr, 
began  business  as  a  printer  in  1734.  At  that  time 
Ellis  Huske,  the  postmaster  of  the  town,  started  a 
newspaper,  the  Boston  Weekly  Post-Boy,  which  was 
printed  by  Bushell,  who  afterwards  became  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Green,  Bushell  and  Allen.  The  firm 
was  dissolved  in  1752,  and  Bushell  soon  after  went 
to  Halifax,  N.  S.,  then  newly  founded,  where  he 
established  a  press.  He  was  the  pioneer  printer  in 
Nova  Scotia,  and  issued  the  Halifax  Gazette,  a 
weekly  journal,  printed  on  a  half-sheet  of  foolscap 
paper. 

By  the  Will  of  John  Bushell,  Senior,  dated  April 
5,  1731,  he  bequeathed  to  his  wife,  Rebecca,  the  north 

59 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

lot,  including  the  Dwelling-house  then  occupied  by 
Joseph  Shedd,  with  the  yard  and  garden;  also  two 
negro  servants,  appraised  in  the  inventory  at  £100, 
and  all  the  household  goods  and  moveables.  .  .  . 
The  Suffolk  Probate  Court,  by  a  warrant  dated  Feb- 
ruary 4,  1747,  authorized  the  division  of  John  Bush- 
ell  Senior's  estate  into  three  portions,  and  John  Endi- 
cott,  Joshua  Blanchard,  Stephen  Greenleaf,  Thomas 
Oxnard  and  Rufus  Green  were  appointed  to  do  this. 
The  southerly  portion,  being  more  than  half  of  the 
whole  estate,  was  apportioned  to  the  son,  John.  The 
heirs  of  Rebecca  Williams,  a  daughter,  received  the 
westerly  half  of  the  house  on  the  north  lot,  fronting 
on  Common  Street,  with  the  yard  lying  before  it,  and 
also  the  southerly  half  of  the  garden.  The  rear  por- 
tion of  the  house,  including  the  kitchen,  was  assigned 
to  Mary  Bushell,  another  daughter,  who  also  re- 
ceived the  "northerly  moiety  or  half  part"  of  the  gar- 
den. The  somewhat  complicated  apportionment  is 
made  clear  by  a  plan  of  the  estate,  duly  recorded. 
Probably  it  was  a  serious  responsibility  to  determine 
the  relative  values  of  parlor  and  kitchen. 

We  have  seen  that  members  of  the  Bushell  family 
acquired  nearly  all  the  land  of  the  present  Cathedral 
Site.  Soon  after  the  apportionment  just  described, 
John  Bushell,  Junior,  sold  to  Timothy  Green,  Junior, 

60 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


of  Boston,  for  £800  sterling,  that  portion  of  the  estate 
which  had  been  allotted  to  his  sister  Mary,  including 
the  kitchen,  yard,  garden,  well  and  pump.  Rebecca 
Williams'  share  of  the  property  came  next  into  the 
possession  of  Richard  Collier,  a  brazier,  who  sold  it, 
February  15,  1757,  to  Timothy  Green,  Junior,  above 
mentioned. 

He  was  a  great-grandson  of  Samuel  Green,  who 
arrived,  a  boy  of  sixteen  years,  with  his  parents  and 
other  relatives,  about  the  year  1632.  Samuel  Green 
used  to  tell  his  children  (of  whom  there  were  nine- 
teen) that  for  some  time  after  landing  on  the  pic- 
turesque wooded  shore  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape 
Ann,  in  the  early  summer,  he  and  several  others  were 
obliged  to  lodge  in  empty  casks,  which  for  a  time 
were  their  only  shelter.  The  family  settled  in  Cam- 
bridge, where  in  after  years  he  held  the  office  of  town 
clerk,  and  became  the  official  printer  for  Harvard 
College.  Still  later  he  was  regarded  as  the  foremost 
of  American  printers,  and  many  of  his  descendants 
were  prominent  as  editors,  publishers  and  book-mak- 
ers. He  served  as  sergeant,  ensign  and  lieutenant  of 
the  Cambridge  military  company,  and  was  commis- 
sioned captain  in  1689,  when  seventy-five  years  of 
age.  We  quote  from  an  Article  in  the  Boston  News- 
Letter,  January  4,  1733:  "Samuel  Green  took  such 

61 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

great  delight  in  the  military  exercise,  that  the  arrival 
of  Training-Day  would  always  raise  his  joy  and 
spirit ;  and  when  he  was  grown  so  aged  that  he  could 
not  walk,  he  would  be  carried  out  in  his  chair  into  the 
field,  to  view  and  order  the  Company."  From  the 
Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  in  1667,  it  ap- 
pears that  Ensign  Samuel  Green,  of  Cambridge, 
printer,  was  allotted  three  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
the  wilderness,  north  of  the  Merrimac  River,  on  the 
west  side  of  Haverhill.  He  attained  the  age  of 
eighty-six  years. 

Timothy  Green,  grandson  of  the  emigrant,  and  son 
of  Samuel,  Junior,  began  business  in  Boston  as  a 
printer  in  the  year  1700,  and  conducted  a  press  there 
for  thirteen  years.  His  place  of  business  was  on 
Middle  Street,  now  Hanover  Street,  in  the  north  part 
of  the  town.  In  1714  he  removed  to  New  London, 
having  received  an  invitation  from  the  Council  and 
Assembly  of  Connecticut  to  become  printer  to  the 
Governor  and  Company,  at  a  salary  of  £50  yearly. 
This  position  he  held  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  be- 
came the  most  eminent  of  contemporary  American 
printers.  He  was  noted,  moreover,  for  his  discretion 
in  avoiding  the  publication  of  whatever  might  give 
offense,  and  for  his  tact  in  abstaining  from  contro- 
versy. He  was  by  nature  benevolent,  and  somewhat 

62 


THE   NORTH   LOT 


facetious,  having  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  which  was 
said  to  be  characteristic  of  the  Green  family. 

Timothy  Green,  Junior,  of  Boston,  also  a  printer, 
formed  a  partnership  in  1727  with  Samuel  Knee- 
land,  under  the  firm  name  of  Kneeland  &  Green.  The 
firm  published  for  many  years  the  New  England 
Weekly  Journal.  The  object  of  this  paper,  as  stated 
in  its  first  number,  was  in  part  to  "entertain  the  Pub- 
lick  every  Monday  with  the  most  Remarkable  Occur- 
rences of  Europe;  and  to  settle  a  correspondence  with 
the  most  knowing  and  ingenious  Gentlemen  in  the 
several  Towns  in  this  and  the  Neighbour  Provinces, 
who  may  take  Particular  Care  seasonably  to  Collect 
and  send  what  may  be  Remarkable  in  their  Town  or 
Towns  adjacent,  worthy  of  Public." 

The  first  Bible  printed  in  Boston  was  issued  from 
the  press  of  Kneeland  &  Green  in  1749.  Their  part- 
nership was  dissolved  three  years  later,  and  Timothy 
Green,  Junior,  removed  to  New  London,  where  he 
succeeded  his  father  in  business. 

After  retaining  the  ownership  of  the  north  lot  ex- 
actly five  years,  Timothy  Green,  Junior,  of  New  Lon- 
don, Conn.,  sold  it,  February  15,  1762,  to  John  Gill,  a 
printer,  who  had  served  an  apprenticeship  with  Sam- 
uel Kneeland,  one  of  whose  daughters  he  married. 
Gill  was  a  Charlestown  boy,  and  a  brother  of  Hon. 

63 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Moses  Gill,  afterwards  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. He  started  business  in  1755  with  Benja- 
min Edes  under  the  firm  name  Edes  &  Gill.  Their 
office  at  first  was  near  the  Town  House  in  King 
Street,  and  afterwards  on  Queen  Street.  They  origi- 
nated the  Boston  Gazette  and  Country  Journal,  which 
later  became  famous  for  the  sturdy  patriotism  main- 
tained in  its  columns.  Its  spirited  political  essays  ar- 
rested public  attention.  For  a  long  period  it  was  the 
chief  organ  of  the  popular  party,  and  through  its  me- 
dium James  Otis,  Samuel  Adams,  Dr.  Joseph  War- 
ren and  other  leading  patriots  addressed  the  people. 
John  Gill  was  a  thorough-going  Whig,  and  had  no  sym- 
pathy with  his  Tory  neighbors.  He  remained  in  town 
during  the  siege,  and  was  imprisoned  for  a  month  in 
the  Summer  of  1775,  "for  printing  treason,  sedition 
and  rebellion."  He  was  taken  to  Boston  Jail,  which 
was  then  on  Queen  Street,  formerly  Prison  Lane,  the 
Court  Street  of  to-day.  His  partner's  son,  Peter 
Edes,  was  a  fellow-prisoner,  accused  of  having  fire- 
arms concealed  in  his  house.  They  endured  many 
hardships  during  their  sojourn  in  this  gloomy  build- 
ing, behind  whose  portal  the  famed  sea-rover,  Captain 
William  Kidd,  was  said  to  have  been  held  captive  in 
1699.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen,  May  16,  1776, 
Gill  was  drawn  as  a  "Jury  Man  for  the  Court  erected 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


for  the  tryal  of  Vessels  that  shall  be  found  infesting 
the  Sea  Coast  of  America."  This  was  afterward 
known  as  the  Maritime  Court.  After  the  Evacua- 
tion of  the  town  by  the  redcoats,  Gill  issued  another 
newspaper,  the  Continental  Journal,  for  several  years. 
His  death  occurred  August  25,  1785. 

Thomas  Bumstead,  Coachmaker 

THE  succeeding  owner  of  the  north  lot  was 
Thomas  Bumstead,  who  acquired  the  property 
November  30,  1769.  His  name  appears  as  a  mem- 
ber of  Captain  William  Angier's  Company,  in  Colo- 
nel Joseph  Frye's  Massachusetts  Regiment,  on  duty 
at  Fort  Cumberland,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1760,  the  year 
when  Canada  and  her  dependencies  passed  from  the 
control  of  France  to  the  British  Crown.  He  was  one 
of  those  who  remained  loyal  at  a  time  when  "the  in- 
subordination of  the  Garrison  soldiers  assumed  a  mu- 
tinous character."  In  the  Autumn  of  1760  all  the 
French  subjects  and  Indians  in  the  surrounding  ter- 
ritory sent  deputations  to  Colonel  Frye,  acknowledg- 
ing their  submission. 

Thomas  Bumstead  was  at  that  time  twenty  years 
of  age.  He  served  during  the  Revolution  as  Captain 
of  Ward  Eleven  Company  of  Colonel  Henry  Brom- 

65 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

field's  Regiment,  and  as  Captain  of  the  Matross  Com- 
pany of  the  Boston  Regiment,  Suffolk  County  Bri- 
gade, in  1776.  He  was  also  Major  of  the  "Brigade 
Train  of  Artillery,"  a  militia  organization.  After  the 
Evacuation  of  Boston,  it  was  desired  to  clean  the 
town,  and  a  committee  was  appointed,  of  whom  Ma- 
jor Bumstead  was  one,  to  go  through  the  several 
wards,  and  have  such  houses  cleansed  and  smoked,  as 
were  in  need  of  it.  He  joined  the  Ancient  and  Hon- 
orable Artillery  Company  in  1764,  and  became  Fourth 
Sergeant.  Fifty-five  years  afterward,  in  September, 
1819,  the  members  of  this  organization,  desiring  to 
show  their  respect  for  Major  Bumstead  and  other 
veteran  members,  paid  him  a  standing  and  marching 
salute,  after  which  all  were  invited  into  his  house,  to 
partake  of  refreshments.  The  famous  "Burgoyne 
Bowl,"  which  held  ten  gallons,  was  full  to  the  brim, 
presumably  with  punch,  and  awaiting  their  arrival. 
After  varied  evolutions  on  the  Common,  the  Company 
escorted  Major  Bumstead  to  Faneuil  Hall,  where  the 
day  was  finished  in  "reciprocating  good  wishes  for 
health,  prosperity  and  happiness." 

His  residence  was  on  the  corner  of  Bromfield  Lane 
and  Common  Street.  In  1782  he  acquired  the  estate 
of  another  coachmaker,  Adino  Paddock,  when  the 
latter,  who  was  a  pronounced  loyalist,  left  Boston 

66 


THE   NORTH    LOT 


nine  months  after  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  This 
estate  was  in  Bumstead  Place  (opposite  the  Granary 
Burying  Ground),  which  was  named  after  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  who  died  May  8,  1828,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-eight  years. 

Thomas  Bumstead  held  the  north  lot  for  thirteen 
years,  and  transferred  it,  November  7,  1782,  to  James 
Foster,  of  Cambridge,  card-maker,  for  £1000  in  "law- 
ful silver  money." 

At  this  time,  the  Winter  Street  lot,  adjoining  the 
corner,  was  owned  by  James  Fosdick  and  others.  The 
land  of  Dr.  John  Sprague  abutted  on  the  east  and 
that  of  John  Bushell's  heirs  on  the  south. 

James  Foster  was  the  owner  of  several  farms  in 
Cambridge  and  neighboring  towns  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution. 

Captain  Levi  Pease,  Stage-coach  Owner 

T  EVI  PEASE  (1739-1824)  was  the  next  owner 
-•—'of  the  north  lot,  having  bought  the  estate  from 
Foster,  August  18,  1784.  The  Boston  records  give 
little  information  about  him,  but  from  other  sources 
we  have  gleaned  some  interesting  particulars.1 

1  Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways,  Mary  Caroline  Crawford ;  Stage 
Coach  and  Tavern  Days,  Alice  M.  Earle;  The  Old  Boston  Post- 
Road,  Stephen  Jenkins. 

67 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

He  was  a  native  of  Enfield,  Connecticut,  where  his 
youth  was  spent.  After  his  marriage  he  removed  to 
the  neighboring  village  of  Somers,  and  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Revolution  he  was  settled  at  Blandford, 
Massachusetts,  where  he  worked  as  a  blacksmith. 

He  was  commissioned  adjutant  of  the  Third  Hamp- 
shire County  Regiment  of  the  Massachusetts  Militia, 
April  23,  1776,  and  served  28  days  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year  with  a  detachment  from  his  regiment,  which 
marched  to  Ticonderoga,  to  reenforce  the  army  at  that 
point. 

Levi  Pease  was  employed  as  a  courier  throughout 
the  latter  part  of  the  war,  carrying  important  letters 
and  dispatches  for  General  Lafayette  and  other  offi- 
cers, by  whom  he  was  much  esteemed  on  account  of  his 
faithfulness  and  honesty.  He  was  intrusted  with 
large  sums  of  money,  wherewith  he  bought  horses, 
forage  and  supplies  for  the  American  army. 

Pease  has  been  called  the  "Father  of  the  Stage- 
coach" in  this  country.  He  was  a  promoter  of  trans- 
portation facilities,  before  the  days  of  railroads,  teleg- 
raphy, telephones  and  wireless  messages,  electric  cars, 
automobiles  and  aeroplanes.  At  the  end  of  the  War 
he  established  a  line  of  primitive  stage-wagons  be- 
tween Boston,  Hartford  and  New  York.  He  him- 
self drove  one  of  these  conveyances,  starting  in  the 

68 


THE   NORTH    LOT 


autumn  of  1783  from  the  Lamb  Tavern,  which  stood 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Adams  House.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  point  of  departure  was  the  Lion  Tav- 
ern, on  the  site  of  Keith's  Theatre.  And  soon  after- 
ward he  bought  a  portion  of  the  Cathedral  land,  and 
had  there  his  own  public-house,  the  "Boston  Inn,"  so- 
called,  and  headquarters  for  his  stage-coaches.  The 
fare  from  Boston  to  New  York  was  ten  dollars,  and 
the  trip  occupied  about  a  week.  The  stage-wagons 
were  roofed  "boxes  mounted  on  springs,  usually  con- 
taining four  seats,  which  accommodated  eleven  pas- 
sengers and  the  driver.  There  were  no  side  en- 
trances to  the  vehicle,  so  that  any  one  getting  in  late 
had  to  climb  over  the  passengers  who  had  pre-empted 
the  front  seats.  .  .  .  The  roads  were  poor,  the 
stage  uncomfortable,  and  the  whole  journey  was  tir- 
ing and  distressing.  ...  In  the  summer  the 
traveller  was  oppressed  by  the  heat,  and  half  choked 
with  the  dust;  in  cold  weather  he  nearly  froze."1 

A  well-known  citizen  of  Boston,  who  made  the 
journey  to  New  York  by  one  of  Pease's  conveyances 
in  1784,  wrote  that  the  carriages  were  ramshackly 
affairs,  and  the  harnesses  were  made  largely  of  ropes. 
"If  no  accident  intervened,"  he  said,  "we  generally 
reached  our  destination  at  ten  o'clock,  and  after  a 

1  Stephen  Jenkins.     The  Old  Boston  Post-Road. 

69 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

frugal  supper  went  to  bed,  with  a  notice  that  we 
should  be  called  at  three  in  the  morning,  which  gen- 
erally proved  to  be  half -past  two.  Then  whether  it 
snowed  or  rained,  the  traveller  must  rise  and  make 
ready  by  the  help  of  a  horn-lantern  and  a  farthing 
candle,  and  proceed  on  his  way  over  bad  roads,  some- 
times being  obliged  to  get  out  and  help  the  coachman 
lift  the  coach  out  of  a  quagmire  or  rut.  We  arrived 
at  New  York  after  a  week's  hard  travelling,  wonder- 
ing at  the  ease,  as  well  as  the  expedition  of  our  jour- 
ney." 

The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the 
Massachusetts  Spy,  January  5,  1786: 

"The  Stages  from  Boston  to  Hartford  in  Connec- 
ticut, set  out  during  the  winter  Season,  from  the 
house  of  Levi  Pease,  at  the  sign  of  the  New  York 
Stage,  opposite  the  Mall,  in  Boston,  every  Monday 
and  Thursday  morning,  precisely,  at  five  o'clock. 
These  stages  afford  the  most  convenient  and  expedi- 
tious way  of  travelling  that  can  possibly  be  had  in 
America.  Said  Pease  keeps  good  lodging  for  gen- 
tlemen travellers,  and  stabling  for  horses.  .  .  ." 
When  the  coach  was  stranded  in  snow-drifts,  Pease 
followed  the  custom  of  the  time,  shouldered  the  mail- 
bag,  and  toiled  forward  on  snow-shoes  to  the  next 
stopping-place. 

70 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


In  1794  Levi  Pease  removed  to  Shrewsbury,  where 
he  became  proprietor  of  the  hostelry  previously  known 
as  "Farrar's  Tavern,"  which  had  acquired  distinc- 
tion as  one  of  the  numerous  inns  which  afforded 
overnight  shelter  to  George  Washington  during  his 
official  visit  to  New  England  in  1789,  the  year  of  his 
first  inauguration  as  President. 

In  an  original  poem  entitled  "The  Stage-Coach," 
and  inscribed  to  Mira,  which  appeared  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts  Magazine,  October,  1796,  some  experiences 
of  a  traveller  in  those  days  are  graphically  described. 

"  'Twas  now  that  hour  when  darkness  deep 
Buried  the  world  in  silent  sleep. 
Supine  I  lay,  and  blissful  dreams 
Had  finished  all  my  hopes  and  schemes. 
Just  had  I  sworn  my  life  should  be 
Sacred  to  friendship,  love  and  thee ; 
That  is  to  say,  'twas  three  o'clock, 
When  at  my  chamber  door  a  knock 
That  mock'd  a  clap  of  rattling  thunder, 
Burst  Morpheus'  grateful  bands  asunder, 
And  with  the  rapid  lightning's  rage 
Hurl'd  me,  half  craz'd,  into  the  stage. 
There,  squeez'd  amid  a  silent  throng 
Of  rich  and  poor,  and  old  and  young, 
We  soon  drove  off  that  peaceful  plain 
Where  Mira  and  the  virtues  reign." 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

When  one  reflects  upon  the  discomforts  of  stage- 
coach travel  in  former  times,  as  described  in  the  fore- 
going lines,  the  superior  conveniences  of  the  modern 
railway  afford  a  pleasing  contrast.  In  the  words  of 
a  recent  writer:  The  development  of  what  is  known 
as  the  "brass-bed"  train  between  the  Metropolis  and 
Boston  "is  evidence  of  an  almost  exacerbated  anxiety 
to  make  the  night  transit  endurable  to  overwrought, 
quivering  creatures  returning  from  New  York  to  the 
shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay."  * 

The  old  Indian  trails  became  well-trodden  paths 
under  the  pressure  of  the  white  settlers'  stout  boots. 
Along  these  rugged  ways  lay  the  route  of  the  post- 
riders.  Next  came  rough  cart-roads,  which  were 
afterward  widened,  and  made  available  for  light  two- 
wheeled  vehicles,  such  as  chaises,  sulkies,  gigs  and 
calashes.  Madam  Sarah  Knight,  who  journeyed  on 
horseback  from  Boston  to  New  York  in  the  year 
1704,  following  quite  closely  the  route  of  the  present 
"Shore  Line"  railroad,  described  the  roads  as  gen- 
erally poor,  and  unsuited  for  vehicles.  There  was 
little  improvement  until  after  the  Revolution.  Gen- 
eral Washington,  on  his  visit  to  Massachusetts  in 
1789,  commented  on  the  roughness  of  the  primitive 
thoroughfares. 

'Harrison  Rhodes  in  Harper's  Magazine,  January,  1916. 

72 


THE   NORTH    LOT 


In  1795,  Isaac  Weld,  a  British  traveler,  who  made 
long  stage-coach  journeys  in  this  country,  related 
that  the  drivers  would  sometimes  call  upon  the  pas- 
sengers to  lean  to  the  right  or  left,  all  together,  to 
prevent  a  possible  upset  in  the  deep  ruts  which  were 
encountered.  Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  better 
methods  of  road  construction  were  in  vogue,  largely 
through  the  influence  of  Thomas  Telford  and  John 
Loudon  McAdam,  who  introduced  scientific  principles 
and  an  improved  system  in  this  work. 

In  January,  1797,  Levi  Pease  and  Company  an- 
nounced that  their  facilities  for  accommodating  the 
public  had  lately  been  improved  at  considerable  ex- 
pense. New  Mail  Stages  were  provided,  carrying 
six  inside  passengers  with  ease,  and  to  their  satis- 
faction; and  the  Company  agreed  that  this  number 
should  not  be  exceeded,  under  penalty  of  ten  dollars 
for  each  offense.  "When  this  mode  of  conveyance  is 
contemplated,"  the  announcement  read,  "every  man 
of  business  or  pleasure  must  confess  it  to  be  the  most 
easy,  cheap  and  commodious  that  can  be  established. 
And  when  the  enhanced  price  of  every  necessary  of 
life  is  considered,  every  liberal  mind  will  allow  that 
the  price  of  five  pence  per  mile,  with  the  usual  rate 
of  baggage,  is  but  a  reasonable  compensation.  They 
set  out  from  Boston  and  New  York  every  Monday, 

73 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

Wednesday  and  Friday,  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  arrive 
at  each  of  the  above  places  in  five  days  from  the 
hours  of  departure  in  Winter,  and  three  days  in 
Summer." 

In  March,  1798,  Levi  Pease  and  Company,  Pro- 
prietors of  the  Mail  and  Old  Line  of  Stages,  which 
ran  from  Boston  to  New  York,  via  Worcester  and 
Springfield,  informed  the  Public  that  they  had  re- 
moved their  Stage  Office  in  Boston,  from  the  Sign 
of  the  Royal  Exchange,  to  a  few  doors  below,  and 
directly  opposite  to  the  Fire  Insurance  Office  and 
Custom  House,  in  State  Street,  where  seats  were  to  be 
secured  at  any  hour. 

Nathaniel  Pease,  the  father  of  Levi,  was  a  sailor. 
He  was  reported  to  have  been  lost  at  sea,  and  his 
wife  married  again.  Then  Nathaniel  Pease  returned 
to  his  home  at  Enfield.  After  one  glance  at  the  situa- 
tion, following  the  example  of  Tennyson's  sailor  hero, 
Enoch  Arden,  he  went  away  again,  and  never  reap- 
peared. .  .  . 

Captain  Levi  Pease  was  said  to  have  learned  the 
value  of  punctuality  in  business  affairs  from  General 
Washington.1 

When  the  latter  was  at  Cambridge  in  the  early  days 

*A.  P.  Marvin.    The  History  of  Worcester  County,  Massachu- 
setts.   I.  p.  803. 

74 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


of  the  Revolution,  he  wished  to  buy  a  pair  of  horses, 
and  made  an  appointment  with  Pease,  who  had  a  fine 
pair  to  sell.  The  horse-trader  was  a  few  minutes  late, 
and  the  Commander-in-chief  did  not  wait  for  him. 
But  the  experience  was  a  valuable  one  for  the  honest 
stage-driver,  courier  and  tavern-keeper. 

The  stage-driver  was  a  person  of  considerable  re- 
sponsibility in  the  community,  and  his  opinions  on 
topics  of  general  interest  were  given  due  weight. 
How  exhilarating  was  the  sound  of  "the  loud  snap 
of  the  whip,  which  gave  increased  speed  to  the  horses, 
as  they  dashed  up  in  approved  style  to  the  stopping- 
place,  where  the  loungers  were  collected  to  see  the 
travellers,  and  listen  to  the  gossip  which  fell  from 
their  lips.  There  were  no  telegraphs  then,  and  but 
few  railroads  in  the  country.  The  papers  did  not 
gather  the  news  so  eagerly,  nor  spread  it  abroad  so 
promptly  as  they  do  now;  and  items  of  intelligence 
were  carried  largely  by  word  of  mouth."  1 

Captain  Basil  Hall,  an  English  naval  officer,  who 
made  long  journeys  in  American  mail  coaches  during 
the  year  1827,  wrote  that  these  vehicles  carried  no 
outside  passengers.  He  was  of  the  opinion  that  the 
most  expert  harlequin  that  ever  preserved  his  bal- 
*  Samuel  Abbott  Green,  M.D.,  Groton  Historical  Series,  Vol.  I, 
VIII,  14. 

75 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

ance,  would  find  it  difficult  to  avoid  being  pitched  to 
the  ground  from  the  top  of  an  American  coach  on  any 
road  which  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  travel  upon 
in  this  country.  Captain  Hall  mentions  some  of  the 
inconveniences  of  journeying  in  those  days;  the  rough 
and  hilly  roads,  the  dilatory  mode  of  changing  horses, 
and  the  frequent  stopping  to  water  them.  Often- 
times the  stage  was  crammed  full  of  passengers,  and 
in  summer  the  heat  and  dust  were  very  trying. 

It  was  customary  for  the  stage-drivers  on  the  dif- 
ferent routes  to  call  for  passengers  at  their  homes, 
and  travelers  expected  that  the  railroad  manage- 
ment would  similarly  accommodate  them.  Therefore 
the  Boston  and  Worcester  Railroad  Company  found 
it  expedient  in  1834  to  issue  the  following  public 
notice :  "Passengers  are  not  sent  for  by  the  Company, 
but  seats  are  provided  for  all  who  apply  at  the  Ticket- 
Office." 

The  residence  of  Levi  Pease  was  opposite  the  Mall 
or  shaded  Promenade,  which  was  described  in  a  num- 
ber of  the  Boston  Magazine  of  the  year  1784,  as 
follows : 

"It  is  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Common,  in  length 
1410  feet,  divided  into  two  walks,  parallel  to  each 
other,  separated  by  a  row  of  trees.  On  the  outside 
of  each  walk  is  also  a  row  of  trees,  which  agreeably 


THE    NORTH    LOT 


shade  them.  The  inhabitants  of  the  town  resort 
thither  in  the  morning  and  evening  of  the  warm  sea- 
sons, for  the  benefit  of  the  fresh  air,  and  a  pleasant 
walk.  It  is  fanned  with  refreshing  breezes  from  a 
part  of  Charles  River,  which  extends  around  the  bot- 
tom of  the  Common.  From  the  Mall  is  a  pleasing 
prospect,  over  the  river,  of  the  adjacent  country. 
These  circumstances,  together  with  the  handsome 
buildings  within  view,  one  of  which  is  a  superb  edifice 
of  stone,  (the  seat  of  the  late  Governour  Hancock;) 
the  hills  that  rise  gradually  on  the  western  side;  the 
cheerfulness  of  the  well-dressed  persons  of  both  sexes, 
and  the  decent  deportment  of  its  visitors,  all  unite  to 
make  a  walk  in  the  Mall  truly  agreeable." 

Some  fifty  years  ago  a  contributor  to  the  Bulletin 
of  the  Essex  Institute  wrote  feelingly  of  the  good 
old  days  of  stage-coach  travel.  "The  stage-driver, — 
the  next  best  man  to  the  minister,  out  of  jail — we 
have  no  longer.  The  old  stage-houses  are  for  the 
most  part  deserted,  or  stand  'with  a  kind  of  gloomy 
sturdiness'  amidst  the  modern  innovations  which  sur- 
round them.  Never  again  shall  'the  windows  of  the 
wayside  inn,  across  the  meadows  bare  and  brown, 
gleam  red  with  fire-light  through  the  leaves  of  wood- 
bine hanging  from  the  eaves,  their  crimson  curtains 
rent  and  thin!'  Never  again,  about  its  hospitable 
hearth,  that  well-known  company  of  whips  shall 

77 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

gather  for  a  parting  pipe,  when  guests  are  dreaming, 
and  the  night-coaches  are  in.  I  see  the  stage-drivers 
now,  in  their  quaint  old  chairs,  whiffs  of  smoke  curl- 
ing lazily  about  their  cheerful,  weatherbeaten,  ruddy 
faces ;  heavy,  wet  boots  steaming  on  the  hearth ;  am- 
ple capes  and  top-coats  flung  dripping  on  the  benches ; 
while  they  chat  by  turns,  stir  the  fire,  and  laugh  at  the 
storm." 

These  lines  were  written  half  a  century  or  more 
ago.  What  a  wonderful  change  has  been  wrought 
by  the  coming  of  the  automobile!  The  chauffeur,  a 
strange,  new  being,  has  succeeded  the  stage-driver 
of  former  days;  the  way-side  inns  have  multiplied 
exceedingly,  while  the  landlord  is  a  more  important 
personage  than  ever. 

Nathan  Bond,  Merchant 

ON  June  thirtieth,  1795,  Captain  Pease,  for  a  con- 
sideration of  £1330,  sold  the  north  lot  to  Nathan 
Bond  of  Boston,  Gentleman  and  Merchant.  It  is 
interesting  to  compare  former  prices  with  the  market 
value  of  the  same  lot  to-day,  which  may  be  fairly 
estimated  at  $1,000,000.  According  to  the  statistics 
of  the  United  States  Direct  Tax  of  1798,  the  estate 

78 


THE   NORTH   LOT 


of  Nathan  Bond,  owner  and  occupier,  was  assessed 
for  $3,500.  Jt  is  therefore  worth  at  the  present  day 
about  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  times  its  estimated 
value  in  the  year  above  mentioned. 

It  was  then  described  as  follows:  "Brick  and 
wooden  dwelling-house,  3  stories,  29  windows;  6603 
square  feet  of  land;  wood-house  and  barn;  bounded 
South  on  Samuel  Ballard,  West  on  Common  Street, 
North  on  Thomas  Thompson  and  Luke  Baker,  and 
East  on  William  Swett." 

Nathan  Bond  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  Class 
of  1772.  He  was  chosen  a  "Clerk  of  the  Market" 
in  1789.  In  an  advertisement  in  the  Independent 
Chronicle,  on  April  twenty- third  of  that  year,  he  of- 
fered for  sale  by  auction  at  his  store  in  Cornhill  a 
lot  of  goods  from  Madras,  including  "chintzes,  cali- 
coes, book-muslins,  ginghams,  cottons,  sheetings, 
silks  and  saltpetre." 

The  Selectmen's  Minutes,  under  date  of  May  3rd, 
1 798,  contain  a  somewhat  vaguely  worded  item,  viz. : 
"Ordered  that  the  Officer  of  Police  inform  Mr.  Na- 
than Bond  that  the  Selectmen  direct  that  he  stop  in 
erecting  a  Building  at  the  bottom  of  the  Common. 
They  do  not  at  present  order  its  removal,  that  Mr. 
Bond  may  have  liberty  to  erect  the  same,  if  he  thinks 
proper."  It  may  be  that  the  style  of  architecture  of 

79 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

the  said  building  did  not  commend  itself  to  the  Town 
Fathers. 

The  Columbian  Centinel,  March  9,  1799,  had  the 
following  advertisement : 

"To  be  sold  by  Nathan  Bond;  the  MANSION 
HOUSE,  which  he  now  occupies,  situated  in  Common 
Street,  opposite  the  Mall.  It  commands  a  beautiful 
prospect  of  the  Common  and  New  State  House;  It 
stands  on  high  ground,  and  has  the  important  ad- 
vantage of  a  good  and  Salubrious  air.  The  lot 
measures  in  front  31  feet,  and  in  depth,  213  feet;  and 
has  a  large  and  convenient  stable,  measuring  in  length 
70  feet." 


Benjamin  Callender,  Tailor 

ON  April  30,  1799,  Mr.  Bond  sold  the  premises  to 
Benjamin  Callender,  a  well-known  tailor,  of  Bos- 
ton, and  the  owner  of  considerable  real  estate. 

After  serving  an  apprenticeship  under  a  trades- 
man named  Copeland,  Mr.  Callender  started  in  busi- 
ness for  himself  about  the  year  1770.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Revolution  he  removed,  with  his  family, 
to  Natick,  but  returned  to  Boston  after  the  Evacua- 
tion. His  shop  was  at  first  on  Cornhill,  now  a  section 
of  Washington  Street,  and  later  he  had  a  more  pre- 

80 


THE   NORTH    LOT 


tentious  establishment  at  Number  4  State  Street, 
which  was  patronized  by  the  aristocracy.  It  was  said 
that  no  customer  ever  left  his  store  in  a  dissatisfied 
frame  of  mind,  because  every  one  was  sure  to  get  his 
money's  equivalent  in  smart  attire.  He  pursued  the 
even  tenor  of  his  way,  without  striving  to  make  a 
noise  in  the  world,  and  gained  an  enviable  reputation 
for  integrity,  modesty  and  fair  dealing.  Mr.  Callen- 
der  was  for  some  years  leader  of  the  choir  of  Brattle 
Street  Church,  until  obliged  to  relinquish  the  position 
on  account  of  increasing  deafness.  He  was  a  per- 
sonal friend  of  Paul  Revere,  and  with  that  distin- 
guished patriot  helped  to  found,  in  1795,  the  Massa- 
chusetts Charitable  Mechanic  Association,  serving 
also  as  a  member  of  its  first  Board  of  Directors. 

His  house  on  Common  Street  was  occupied  from 
1800  to  1810  by  Seth  Cole,  a  livery-stable  keeper. 

Mr.  Callender  had  five  sons  and  three  daughters, 
who  were  educated  in  the  Boston  public  schools.  He 
died  in  1828  at  the  age  of  eighty- three. 

John  Osborn,  Importer 

JOHN  OSBORN,  of  Boston,  bought  both  the  north 
and  south  lots,  February  10,   1819,  for  $15,000, 
thus  becoming  owner  of  the  larger  portion  of  the 

81 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

present  Cathedral  Site.  Mr.  Osborn  received  his  edu- 
cation at  the  Public  Latin  School,  and  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Artillery  Company  in  1793. 

He  was  a  wealthy  merchant,  whose  specialty  was 
the  importation  of  glass  and  painters'  colors.  He  had 
a  store  at  No.  I  Long  Wharf,  a  shop  on  Orange 
Street,  now  a  part  of  Washington  Street,  and  his 
residence  was  at  the  West  End.  He  owned  consid- 
erable land  within  the  town  limits,  including  the 
tract  then  known  as  the  "Pear  Orchard,"  bounded 
by  Cambridge,  Lynde,  Green  and  Chambers  Streets. 
In  1806  he  bought  a  handsome  residence  on  Mount 
Vernon  Street,  which  he  sold  in  1809  to  Mrs.  Gibbs, 
widow  of  a  well-known  merchant,  of  Newport,  R.  I. 
Mr.  Osborn  died  at  Boston  in  1819,  at  the  age  of  48 
years.1 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  during  the  years  from 
1826  to  1830  the  line  of  houses  on  Tremont  Street 
between  Saint  Paul's  Church  and  Winter  Street  was 
called  "Saint  Paul's  Row." 

*In  September,  1813,  Mr.  Osborn  offered  for  sale  at  his  store 
"a  large  and  very  extensive  assortment  of  Paints,  Painters' 
Brushes,  Tools  and  Pencils,  gum  copal,  Verdigrise,  Linseed  Oil, 
Spirits  of  Turpentine,  Gold  and  Silver  Leaf,  English  and  Ameri- 
can Glue,  Pumice  Stone,  Whiting,  Water  Cologne  in  boxes,  and 
every  Article  generally  called  for  in  a  paint  store." 


THE  SOUTH  LOT 


THE  SOUTH  LOT 

James  Johnson,  Glover 

THE  SOUTH  LOT,  having  a  breadth  along  the 
Common  of  about  40  feet,  and  extending  east- 
erly 210  feet  to  the  line  of  Mason  Street,  was  granted 
by  the  General  Court  to  James  Johnson,  a  glover,  in 
1638.  He  was  a  deacon  of  the  First  Church  in  Bos- 
ton, and  became  a  member  of  the  Artillery  Company, 
attaining  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  in  1658.  James 
Johnson  was  the  original  owner  of  the  site  of  the  Blue 
Bell  Tavern,  which  stood  on  a  marsh  at  the  corner  of 
the  present  Batterymarch  Street  and  Liberty  Square. 
It  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Castle  Tavern.  He 
also  owned  the  site  of  the  Green  Dragon  Tavern,  on 
Union  Street,  near  Haymarket  Square.  In  ante-Rev- 
olutionary times  this  Inn  was  a  favorite  rallying- 
place  of  leading  patriots.  Paul  Revere  was  one  of 
a  group  of  about  thirty  men,  chiefly  mechanics,  who 
"banded  together  to  keep  watch  on  the  British  de- 
signs," and  who  were  wont  to  meet  at  the  Green 
Dragon  Tavern.  .  .  . 

In  the  early  Boston  records  Mr.  Johnson  is  de- 

85 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

scribed  as  a  leather-dresser.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
Selectmen,  March  17,  1643,  Sergeant  Johnson  was 
requested  "to  take  the  oversight  of  the  boyes  in  the 
galleryes,  and  in  case  of  unruly  disorders,  to  acquaint 
the  Magistrates  therewith." 

Some  thirty  years  later,  on  April  28,  1673,  Mrs. 
Abigail  Johnson,  the  wife  of  Captain  James  John- 
son, was  licensed  to  sell  "Coffee,  Chucaletto,  and 
Syder." 

George  Burden,  Shoemaker 

IN  the  early  days  the  adjoining  lot  toward  West 
Street  was  owned  by  George  Burden.  He  and  his 
wife  Ann  had  come  over  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony  on  the  ship  Abigail  in  1635.  He  was  a  shoe- 
maker, and  together  with  his  wife  was  admitted  to 
membership  in  the  First  Church  of  Boston  the  follow- 
ing year.  He  took  the  freeman's  oath  in  1637.  In 
company  with  many  of  his  fellow-townsmen  he  be- 
came involved  in  the  religious  dissensions  of  that  pe- 
riod, as  an  adherent  of  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  the 
leader  of  the  so-called  sect  of  the  Antinomians  in  New 
England,  and  was  sentenced  by  the  Court  to  be  dis- 
armed for  heresy. 

The  name  of  "our  brother,"  George  Burden,  ap- 

86 


THE    SOUTH   LOT 


pears  not  infrequently  in  the  Town  records.  On  July 
31,  1643,  a  grant  was  made  to  him  and  three  others, 
of  the  whole  of  the  Mill  Cove,  so  called,  which  after- 
ward became  the  Mill-Pond  by  the  construction  of  a 
causeway  along  the  line  of  the  present  Causeway 
Street.  This  causeway  was  the  successor  of  an  old 
Indian  foot-path  along  a  more  elevated  portion  of 
the  salt  marsh.  The  Mill-Pond  was  gradually  filled 
in  with  material  taken  from  Beacon  and  Copps  Hills. 
This  work  was  begun  in  1807  and  occupied  nearly 
twenty-five  years.1  The  original  grant  was  made 
upon  the  condition  that  the  grantees  should  erect  and 
maintain  one  or  more  Corn  Mills  upon  or  near  the 
premises. 

George  Burden  and  the  members  of  his  family  re- 
turned to  England  about  the  year  1652. 

Henry  Webb,  Merchant 

'V  T  EXT  to  George  Burden's  lot,  on  the  north  cor- 
**?  ^  ner  of  Tremont  and  West  Streets,  was  a  garden 
containing  about  one  acre  of  land,  belonging  to  Henry 
Webb,  a  native  of  Salisbury,  England,  who  came  over 
in  1638,  and  was  admitted  to  the  First  Church  in  Bos- 
ton the  same  year.  His  wife,  Dosabell  or  Dowsabell, 
*S.  A.  DiJce.  Old  Landmarks  of  Boston. 

87 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

became  a  member  in  1639.  Mr.  Webb  held  the  office 
of  constable  for  one  term.  He  became  a  wealthy 
merchant,  having  also  a  large  interest  in  some  iron- 
works at  Lynn,  and  considerable  real  estate.  In  his 
Will  he  bequeathed  £100  to  the  Town  for  the  benefit 
of  the  poor.  "At  a  Townes-meeting  upon  Publick 
notice  from  house  to  house,"  July  9,  1660,  it  was  or- 
dered that  "the  said  £100  be  improoved  by  the  select 
men  for  the  end  aforesaid,  in  some  building  fitt  for 
that  end ;  and  that  in  case  of  fire  hapning  which  may 
consume  itt,  the  Towne  shall  reedify  the  like  fabrick 
to  the  end  aforesaid." 

Henry  Webb  also  bequeathed  to  Harvard  College 
a  piece  of  land  extending  from  Washington  to  Dev- 
onshire Streets,  with  the  house  thereon;  the  rent  to 
be  devoted  to  the  "maintenance  of  some  poor  Scholars, 
or  otherwise  for  the  best  good  of  the  College."  The 
Treasurer's  Account-Book,  under  date,  April  14, 
1710,  has  this  item: 

"Lett  unto  Mr.  Wm.  Payne,  the  College  House,  Mr. 
Webb's  gift,  for  99  years  from  25  March,  1710,  to 
pay  £12  per  annum."  The  estate  is  still  in  Harvard's 
possession.  Until  recently  it  was  occupied  by  Messrs. 
Little,  Brown  and  Company,  Publishers.  The  early 
records  of  transfers  of  real  estate  in  Boston  are  not 
complete.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  south  lot 

88 


THE   SOUTH   LOT 


came  into  the  possession  of  one  Richard  Carter,  who 
had  also  bought  in  1646  of  William  Parsons  the  ad- 
jacent lot  towards  Temple  Place,  which  consisted  of 
one  acre  of  land,  bounded  on  the  east  by  Robert  Wing 
and  Ralph  Mason,  the  Lane  (West  Street)  on  the 
south,  the  Common  west,  and  George  Burden  north. 

Richard  Carter  took  the  freeman's  oath  in  1639. 
His  trade  was  that  of  a  carpenter.  At  a  general  Town 
meeting  on  February  24th  of  that  year,  Richard  Car- 
ter, sawyer,  was  granted  a  "great  Lott  at  the  Mount 
[Wollaston]  for  three  heads  there." 

In  1657  he  subscribed  £i  to  the  fund  for  building 
the  first  Town  House  in  Boston,  and  in  the  following 
year  was  chosen  a  surveyor  of  highways.  His  lands 
between  the  present  Winter  and  West  Streets  were 
known  as  "Carter's  Pasture,"  and  his  home  lot  was 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Adams  House. 

Richard  Carter  and  Ann,  his  wife,  transferred  the 
premises,  March  14,  1663-4,  to  John  Cross,  a  brewer, 
of  Boston.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen,  holden 
March  26,  1666,  John  Crosse  was  ordered  to  attend 
to  the  "yoaking  and  ringing  of  the  Swine  belonging 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  and  to  asseize  all  for- 
feitures that  shall  arise  by  the  Swine  not  being  yoaked 
and  ringed  according  to  order." 

In  March,  1686,  he  was  appointed  "Towne  Cryer, 

89 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

to  be  allowed  2d  for  what  he  cryeth  at  the  metting- 
house;  and  what  he  Crye  upp  and  downe  from  street 
to  street  is  to  be  allowed  6d  at  a  time;  further  the 
said  John  Crosse  is  ordered  to  cleare  the  streets  of  all 
Carron  and  other  offencive  matters." 

In  November,  1670,  he  mortgaged  the  property  to 
John  Richards,  "merchant-treasurer"  of  Harvard 
College,  including  the  "new  dwelling-house,  with  one 
other  new  house  now  erecting,  together  with  all  that 
piece  or  parcel  bounded  by  the  land  of  John  Wampas, 
formerly  Robert  Wyard,  northerly;  and  the  land  of 
Richard  Carter,  southerly;  and  butteth  on  the  towne 
Comon  westerly,  and  the  lands  of  Anthony  Harker 
and  Isaac  Goose,  easterly/' 

No  conveyance  from  John  Cross  appears  to  have 
been  recorded.  The  next  transaction  involving  this 
estate  is  dated  February  22,  1724,  when  Joseph  Miller 
of  Portsmouth,  in  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire, 
yeoman,  "for  and  in  consideration  of  £300  in  good, 
lawful,  publick  Bills  of  Credit,"  sold  the  same  to 
John  Bushell. 

An  "Accompt  of  Rebeckah  Scott,  executrix  of  the 
Will  of  her  former  husband  John  Bushell,"  gives 
some  information  about  house-rents  in  Provincial 
times.  For  example,  John  Lucas  paid  Mrs.  Bushell 
£45,  9  shillings  for  twenty  months'  rent  of  the  "front 

90 


THE    SOUTH   LOT 


end  of  the  New  House  in  Common  Street,"  from  No- 
vember, 1731 ;  or  at  the  rate  of  about  $135  a  year. 
Hugh  Scott's  rent  for  the  "Back  of  the  New  House" 
for  twenty  months  to  December,  1733,  amounted  to 
a  little  over  £66.  And  Kenelm  Winslow  paid  £81  for 
the  whole  of  the  New  House,  for  fifteen  months  to 
August,  1735,  at  an  annual  rate  of  about  $325. 

In  the  Inventory  of  the  estate  of  John  Bushell, 
dated  April  10,  1732,  he  is  styled  "Innkeeper."  The 
dwelling-house,  barn,  yard  and  garden  bought  of  Mil- 
ler, were  appraised  at  £400;  whereas  the  land  and 
buildings  of  the  north  lot,  bought  of  the  Hughes  heirs, 
were  valued  at  £1000. 

It  is  evident  that  this  region  was  distinctly  rural 
in  character,  and  so  continued  until  long  after  the 
Revolution.  Trees,  gardens  and  pastures,  pumps  and 
wells,  barns  and  woodsheds  abounded,  while  close  at 
hand,  as  now,  was  the  beautiful  Training-Field  or 
Common,  affording  ample  grazing-ground  for  the 
cattle. 

In  1747  John  Bushell,  Junior,  inherited  the  south 
lot,  it  having  been  apportioned  to  him  by  a  decree  of 
the  Suffolk  Probate  Court,  before  mentioned. 

In  the  following  year,  April  9,  1748,  he  made  over 
to  one  Richard  Collier,  a  brazier,  this  property,  in- 
cluding "a  certain  old  house  or  tenement  and  Land 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

with  the  edifices  thereon,  with  the  right  and  privilege 
in  the  Well  and  Pump,  standing  partly  on  the  Land 
aforesaid." 

Samuel  Ballard 

ICHARD  COLLIER,  after  holding  the  property 
fourteen  years,  sold  it,  April  16,  1762,  to  Samuel 
Ballard,  Gentleman.  The  latter's  name  appears  fre- 
quently on  the  Town  records.  He  was  a  graduate 
of  the  Boston  Public  Latin  School.  Joining  the  mili- 
tia early,  he  attained  the  rank  of  Captain,  and  also 
held  the  office  of  Constable.  He  was  chosen  a  member 
of  a  committee  of  seventy  citizens  "to  attend  upon  a 
General  Walk  or  Visitation  of  the  Town  (January 
13,  1747),  and  afterwards  to  Report  the  State  of  the 
Town."  Many  years  later  his  name  appeared  in  the 
Directory  as  a  Hay-weigher,  and  in  the  Records  as  a 
"Hay-ward,"  an  official  whose  duty  it  was  to  impound 
roving  animals.  At  a  Selectmen's  meeting,  April  26, 
1786,  "upon  opening  proposals  for  the  hire  of  the 
Hay  Engine,  it  appeared  that  Captain  Samuel  Bal- 
lard was  the  highest  bidder,  and  the  Selectmen,  ap- 
prehending him  to  be  a  Person  suitably  qualified,  they 
have  agreed  to  Rent  said  Engine  to  him  at  the  Sum 
he  offers,  viz.:  £150,  one  shilling,  per  Annum." 

92 


THE    SOUTH    LOT 


His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth  Pickering,  who  died  in 
1763.  He  married  on  November  third  of  that  year, 
Fear,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Temperance  (Dim- 
mick)  Freeman  of  Harwich,  and  widow  of  Daniel 
Sears  of  Chatham,  Massachusetts.  Captain  Ballard 
had  considerable  experience  as  a  seafarer,  having 
made  a  voyage  to  the  north-west  coast,  the  region  of 
Behring  Sea,  in  a  sealing-vessel,  the  Belle  George, and 
being  absent  about  four  years.  He  was  a  maker  of 
mathematical  instruments. 

Captain  Ballard  died  in  1793,  and  by  will  devised 
the  premises  to  a  grand-daughter,  Betsey  Pope,  a 
minor,  daughter  of  Edward  Pope.  The  widow,  Fear 
Ballard,  continued  to  occupy  the  house,  which  was 
described  in  1 798  as  a  three-storied  brick  and  wooden 
dwelling,  with  twenty-one  windows.  Drawings  of  this 
house,  and  of  the  adjoining  one,  owned  by  Benjamin 
Callender,  on  the  present  Cathedral  Site,  as  they  ap- 
peared in  1800,  are  to  be  seen  in  the  Boston  Public 
Library, Quarterly  Bulletin, October,  1894.  The  grand- 
daughter of  Captain  Ballard,  Betsey  Pope,  seems  to 
have  died  early,  leaving  her  father  sole  heir;  for  on 
February  10,  1810,  Edward  Pope  of  New  Bedford, 
transferred  the  south  lot  and  buildings  to  John  Os- 
born,  of  Boston,  who  thus  became  the  owner  of  both 
lots. 

93 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 


Purchase  of  a  Site  for  Saint  Paul's  Church 

AT  a  meeting  of  Subscribers  to  a  fund  for  the 
erection  of  a  new  Episcopal  Church  in  Boston, 
held  at  the  old  Court  House,  April  19,  1819,  Messrs. 
Shubael  Bell,  William  Appleton,  Daniel  Webster, 
George  Sullivan,  Francis  Wilby  and  George  Odin 
were  chosen  members  of  a  Building  Committee,  and 
were  authorized  to  buy  a  suitable  lot  of  land  for  a 
site. 

In  accordance  with  a  vote  passed  two  days  later, 
the  following  notice  appeared  in  the  Boston  Daily 
Advertiser,  April  24,  1819: 

"Wanted  to  purchase  in  Boston,  in  a  central  situa- 
tion, for  the  site  of  an  Episcopal  Church,  a  lot  of 
LAND,  of  about  12,000  square  feet." 

Proposals  were  to  be  addressed  to  Henry  Codman, 
at  his  office,  No.  i  State  Street. 

After  consideration  of  several  other  lots,  whose 
titles  proved  defective,  it  was  voted,  May  18,  1819,  to 
purchase  Mr.  Osborn's  land,  on  Common  Street. 

On  May  20,  1819,  John  Osborn  and  wife  Catherine 
conveyed  by  warranty  deed  to  George  Sullivan  and 
William  Shimmin,  for  a  consideration  of  $15,000,  all 
the  land  of  the  first  named  on  Common  Street,  meas- 

94 


THE    SOUTH    LOT 


uring  in  breadth  73  feet,  six  inches,  and  having  an 
average  depth  of  213*^  feet. 

On  March  2ist,  1820,  George  Sullivan  and  wife, 
Sarah  Bowdoin,  transferred  to  David  Sears  "all  the 
land  in  Common  Street,  under  and  appurtenant  to 
the  new  Stone  Church  called  Saint  Paul's  Church,  now 
erecting."  And  on  November  22,  following,  David 
Sears  sold  the  above-named  premises  to  the  Proprie- 
tors of  the  said  Church.  No  funds  were  paid  the 
grantors  at  the  time  of  conveyance,  but  the  property 
was  mortgaged  back  to  them  as  security  for  the  pur- 
chase money. 

The  Vergoose  or  Goose  Family 

ABOUT  the  year  1645,  according  to  the  Book  of 
Possessions,  Anthony  Harker  was  the  owner  and 
occupant  of  an  estate  fronting  on  Newbury,  now 
Washington  Street,  and  extending  westward  275  feet 
toward  Tremont  Street,  including  a  large  portion  of 
the  present  Temple  Place.  Anthony  Harker  is  be- 
lieved to  have  come  over  from  England  in  the  ship 
Griffin  in  1633.  He  was  an  early  member  of  the  First 
Church  in  Boston  and  was  described  in  its  Record  of 
Admissions  as  a  man-servant  of  the  venerable  elder, 
Thomas  Leverett.  In  legal  documents  he  was  styled 

95 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

a  "yeoman"  and  was  admitted  to  freedom  in  1636. 

In  1659  Anthony  Marker  sold  for  £30  to  Peter 
Vergoose  the  northerly  portion  of  his  estate,  includ- 
ing "his  old  dwelling-house,  with  the  cleere  moiety  or 
halfe  part  of  the  yard,  orchard  and  land  thereto  be- 
longing; bounded  by  the  streete  leading  to  Roxbury 
on  the  east,  the  land  of  Richard  Carter  on  the  west, 
the  lands  of  Alexander  Baker  on  the  north,  and  the 
New  House  and  other  moiety  of  the  said  yard  and 
orchard  on  the  south."  This  lot,  therefore,  immedi- 
ately adjoined  "Carter's  Pasture"  and  the  site  of 
Saint  Paul's  Church,  which  occupied  the  space  be- 
tween it  and  the  Common. 

Peter  Vergoose  or  Goose,  alias  Vertigoose,  the  emi- 
grant, a  ship-joiner,  came  to  these  shores  about  the 
year  1656.  His  descendants  were  among  the  largest 
land-owners  in  Boston,  and  in  spite  of  the  handicap 
of  a  somewhat  peculiar  surname,  the  members  of  the 
Goose  family  were  prominent  and  of  excellent  repute 
in  the  community.  The  property  above-mentioned 
remained  in  their  possession  until  1768,  when  it  was 
sold  to  Jonathan  Amory. 

Isaac  Goose  (son  of  Peter),  who  was  born  in  Eng- 
land about  1637,  became  an  active  and  enterprising 
citizen  of  Boston  and  the  owner  of  considerable  real 
estate.  Not  long  after  coming  of  age,  his  father 


THE    SOUTH    LOT 


stated  that  he  was  "of  competent  stature  either  to  go 
to  prentice  or  to  sea."  He  served  as  constable,  and 
was  wont  to  patrol  the  streets  at  night  with  Samuel 
Sewall,  Captain  of  the  South  Company,  and  after- 
ward Chief  Justice  of  the  Superior  Court,  who  lived 
opposite  Isaac  Goose  on  land  now  occupied  by  the 
main  store  of  the  Jordan-Marsh  Company.  Judge 
Sewall  wrote  in  his  Diary  under  date  of  March  12, 
1685:  "Watched  with  Isaac  Goose  and  Sam  Clark. 
Had  a  pleasant  night.  Gave  each  Watch  twelve  pence, 
to  drink."  And  again,  July  29,  1686:  "I  goe  the 
Grand  Rounds  with  Isaac  Goose  and  Matthias 
Smith."  The  members  of  the  night-watch  were  in- 
structed to  enquire  if  there  were  warrantable  cause 
for  having  lights  burning  after  ten  o'clock  at  night; 
and  also  to  demand  the  reason  for  any  noise  or  dis- 
order. 

Isaac  Goose  married  (first)  about  1667,  Mary, 
daughter  of  Jonathan  Balston,  a  ship-builder  and  sea- 
captain.  She  died  in  1690,  leaving  10  children.  He 
married  (second)  July  5,  1692,  Elizabeth  (daughter 
of  William  and  Anne  Foster  of  Charlestown).  They 
had  six  children,  of  whom  the  eldest  daughter,  Eliza- 
beth, was  married,  June  8,  1715,  to  Thomas  Fleet,  the 
printer,  by  Rev.  Cotton  Mather.  Isaac  Goose  died 
November  29,  1710.  His  "housen  and  land"  were 

97 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

valued  at  £650. 

Thomas  Fleet  (1685-1758)  was  a  native  of  Shrop- 
shire, England,  and  in  his  youth  served  an  apprentice- 
ship with  a  printer  at  Bristol.  Owing  to  political 
troubles,  he  emigrated  to  the  new  world  in  1712,  and 
made  his  home  in  Boston,  where  he  established  a 
printing-office  on  Pudding  Lane,  now  Devonshire 
Street.  Children's  books,  ballads  and  pamphlets  were 
the  chief  early  products  of  his  press.  In  1713  he  oc- 
cupied a  more  pretentious  brick  building  at  the  corner 
of  Water  Street  and  Cornhill  (then  the  lower  part  of 
Washington  Street). 

The  sign  of  the  "Heart  and  Crown"  adorned  the 
front  of  this  building,  which  contained  printing-of- 
fices and  an  auction-room,  and  served  also  as  a  domi- 
cile for  the  family. 

Thomas  Fleet's  mother-in-law,  Elizabeth  Vergoose, 
was  believed  by  many  to  have  been  the  original 
"Mother  Goose,"  whose  name  has  long  been  a  house- 
hold word  in  America. 

Her  lullabys  and  cradle-songs,  as  sung  to  her 
grandchildren,  were  said  to  have  been  collected  and 
published  by  Mr.  Fleet,  as  "Mother  Goose's  Melodies," 
in  1719. 

These  rhymes  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
Fairy  Tales  written  by  Charles  Perrault,  and  pub- 

98 


THE    SOUTH    LOT 


lished  at  Paris,  France,  in  1697.  The  latter  form  a 
classic  work  in  the  department  of  fairy  lore,  and  bore 
the  inscription  "Tales  of  my  Mother  Goose."  They 
included  the  well-known  stories  of  "Little  Red  Riding- 
Hood,"  "Cinderella,"  "Blue  Beard,"  and  "Puss-in- 
Boots."  The  coincidence  of  titles  appears  to  be  purely 
accidental. 

In  the  year  1729,  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Isaac  Ver- 
goose,  and  executrix  of  his  estate,  quit-claimed  to 
Thomas  Fleet,  his  wife  and  children,  three  dwelling- 
houses,  with  the  land  appertaining  thereto,  lying  in 
Newbury  Street,  Boston,  and  being  the  ancestral  es- 
tate. 

Thomas  Fleet  advertised  in  the  Boston  News-Let- 
ter, March  7,  1731,  as  follows: 

"This  is  to  give  Notice  to  all  Gentlemen,  Merchants, 
Shopkeepers  and  others,  that  Thomas  Fleet  of  Boston, 
Printer  (who  formerly  kept  his  Printing  House  in 
Pudding  Lane,  but  is  now  removed  into  Cornhill  at 
the  sign  of  the  Heart  and  Croivn,  near  the  lower  end 
of  School  Street),  is  willing  to  undertake  the  Sale  of 
Books,  Household  Goods,  Wearing  Apparel,  or  any 
other  Merchandize,  by  Vendue  or  Auction.  The  said 
Fleet,  having  a  large  and  commodious  Front  Cham- 
ber, fit  for  this  business,  and  a  Talent  well-known  and 
approved,  doubts  not  of  giving  entire  Satisfaction  to 
such  as  may  employ  him  in  it;  he  is  hereby  engaging 

99 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

to  make  it  appear  that  this  Service  may  be  performed 
with  more  Convenience  and  less  Charge  at  a  private 
House,  well  situated,  than  at  a  Tavern.  And  for 
farther  Encouragement,  said  Fleet  promises  to  make 
up  Accompts  with  the  owners  of  the  Goods  Sold  by 
him,  in  a  few  days  after  the  sale  thereof." 

In  1736  Isaac  Goose,  Junior,  was  enrolled  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  "Prison  Engine  Company,"  under  com- 
mand of  Captain  Bartholomew  Sutton.  This  was  the 
pioneer  Fire  Engine  of  Boston,  and  its  station  was 
removed  in  1 744  from  Prison  Lane,  now  Court  Street, 
to  a  shed  in  the  rear  of  the  old  South  Church.  At 
that  period  there  were  seven  of  these  engines  in  the 
Town.  They  were  then  called  "Water  Engines." 
Each  was  drawn  by  one  horse  and  they  were  said  to 
be  capable  of  throwing  a  considerable  stream  of  water 
to  a  height  of  twelve  feet.  Isaac  Goose,  Junior, 
served  the  town  as  a  "Viewer  of  Boards  and  Shin- 
gles" for  twenty-five  years.  The  Boston  family  of 
Goose  has  been  practically  extinct  since  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  although  the  name  again 
appears  in  recent  Directories. 

The  late  William  H.  Whitmore  maintained  emphat- 
ically that  the  Boston  "Mother  Goose"  was  a  myth. 
It  would  be  as  absurd,  wrote  he,  to  place  her  among 
the  eminent  women  of  our  country,  as  it  would  be  to 

100 


THE    SOUTH    LOT 


put  Jack-the-Giant-Killer  in  a  list  of  famous  Amer- 
ican Generals.  This  may  be  a  rude  shock  to  many 
imaginative  people  and  children,  who  cherish  the 
name  of  "Mother  Goose,"  and  hold  fast  to  the  tradi- 
tion that  that  illustrious  woman  was  a  veritable  per- 
sonage who  once  lived  in  Boston,  then  a  village  by  the 
sea,  and  that  she  was  the  author  of  those  celebrated 
rhymes  and  jingles. 


ici 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


THE  CARTER  LOT 

Ten-Foot  Strip 

INASMUCH  as  the  width  of  the  Osborn  lot  was 
deemed  insufficient,  the  Building  Committee  of 
Saint  Paul's  Church  voted,  June  23,  1819,  to  pur- 
chase for  $3,172,  a  strip  of  land,  10  feet  wide  and 
211  feet  in  depth,  adjoining  the  Osborn  estate  on  the 
south,  according  to  an  agreement  already  made. 
This  strip  corresponds  in  part  with  the  present 
covered  passage-way  leading  from  Tremont  Street 
to  the  Shepard  Norwell  Company's  store.  One  third 
part  of  the  strip,  its  rear  portion,  is  within  the  limits 
of  the  former  possessions  of  Richard  Carter,  one  of 
the  early  Townsmen.  His  lot  was  called  "Carter's 
Pasture,"  and  extended  southerly  as  far  as  West 
Street.  It  included  about  an  acre  of  land,  and  was 
conveyed  to  the  said  Carter  by  William  Parsons,  a 
"sley-maker,"  in  1646,  by  an  absolute  Deed,  acknowl- 
edged before  Governor  John  Winthrop. 

William  Parsons,  Emigrant 

WILLIAM  PARSONS   (1620-1702),  of  Salis- 
bury, England,  was  one  of  a  goodly  company 
of  emigrants,  who  "shipt  themselves  at  the  towne  of 

105 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Hampton  in  the  James,  of  London/'  during  the  month 
of  April,  1635.  In  the  Custom-House  clearance  he 
was  described  as  a  "tayler,"  but  when  admitted  to  the 
Church  in  Boston  nine  years  afterward,  he  was  called 
a  joiner.  Mr.  Parsons  was  admitted  a  townsman, 
March  31,  1645,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Artil- 
lery Company  soon  after.  He  was  one  of  the  early 
land-owners  of  Boston,  his  name  appearing  in  the 
Book  of  Possessions.  His  residence  was  on  the  pres- 
ent Spring  Lane,  very  near  the  ancient  Spring-Gate 
or  Common  Spring,  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  fresh 
water  supply  for  the  colonists.  The  spring  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  fence,  and  was  approached  through  a 
gate;  hence  its  name.  After  some  years  William 
Parsons  revisited  England,  and  during  the  Protector- 
ate of  Oliver  Cromwell  he  became  associated  with  a 
small  band  of  fanatics  and  would-be  reformers,  led 
by  a  misguided  zealot  named  Thomas  Venner,  a  wine- 
cooper  of  Boston.  These  men  desired  to  abolish 
existing  laws  and  institutions,  and  to  substitute  a  sim- 
pler code,  founded  upon  the  law  of  Moses.  At  first 
they  were  adherents  of  Cromwell,  but  later  turned 
against  him.  In  furtherance  of  their  purpose,  they 
started  a  small  rebellion  in  England,  rallying  about 
a  banner  which  bore  the  motto,  "For  the  Lord  God 
and  Gideon."  This  little  band  was  defeated  in  Lon- 

106 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


don  January  6,  1661,  by  soldiers  of  the  Horse-Guards 
and  Train-Bands.  Almost  all  of  them  were  either 
killed  or  taken  prisoners,  but  Parsons  managed  to 
escape.  It  is  on  record  in  the  Diary  of  Samuel  Sewall 
that  he  "slipt  away  in  the  crowd/'  Returning  to  Bos- 
ton, he  made  his  abode  there  for  more  than  forty 
years,  serving  as  Clerk  of  the  Market  in  1669.  He 
was  licensed  by  the  Selectmen  in  1681  to  sell  wine  and 
strong  liquors  out-of-doors,  and  the  same  privilege 
was  enjoyed  by  him  in  later  years.  Such  is  a  part  of 
the  strange  history  of  one  of  the  early  owners  of  the 
Cathedral  land.1 

Hezekiah  Usher,  Bookseller 

IN  1679  Mary  Cowell,  wife  of  Joseph  Cowell  of 
Boston,  cooper,  and  daughter  of  Richard  Carter, 
by  virtue  of  a  Power  of  Attorney  from  her  husband, 
sold  this  pasture  lot  to  Hezekiah  Usher,  the  younger, 
of  Boston. 

The  Usher  family  was  prominent  in  Massachusetts 
during  the  Colonial  period.    Hezekiah  Usher,  Senior 

1  Affixed  to  the  wall  of  a  building  on  the  north  side  of  Spring 
Lane,  near  Washington  Street,  is  a  tablet  inscribed  as  follows: 
"Here  was  the  Great  Spring,  which  for  more  than  two  Centuries 
gave  water  to  the  people  of  Boston."  The  Bostonian  Society  has 
set  this  tablet.  1907. 

107 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

(b.  in  England,  1615),  became  a  wealthy  merchant, 
whose  residence  in  1638  was  at  the  corner  of  Dunster 
and  Winthrop  Streets  in  Cambridge.  He  removed  to 
Boston  as  early  as  1645,  and  his  name  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Book  of  Possessions  as  an  owner  of  land  within 
the  Town  limits  at  that  time.  In  the  Aspinwall  No- 
tarial Records,  under  date  of  December  3,  1646, 
occurs  the  following:  "Hezekiah  Usher  granted  a 
gener11  Realease  unto  Robert  Saundrs  for  all  accounts 
touching  theire  Copartnershipp  &c  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  world  unto  the  date  thereof."  Mr.  Usher 
lived  in  a  dwelling  on  the  north  side  of  King  Street, 
now  State  Street,  and  opposite  the  Market  Place, 
which  was  later  the  site  of  the  Town  House,  and 
afterward  of  the  Old  State  House.  He  was  a  public- 
spirited  citizen,  and  as  evidence  of  this  fact  we  find 
his  name  in  a  list  of  donors  to  a  fund  for  the  erection 
of  a  new  Town  House,  in  1657.  Hezekiah  Usher 
agreed  to  pay  for  this  object  "twentye  poundes  in 
Englishe  goods  or  equivalent;  proviso:  yt  ye  market 
house  bee  erected  in  ye  markett  place,  &  a  cunditt." 
The  conduit  was  doubtless  intended  as  a  reservoir  for 
water,  but  none  was  built  at  that  time. 

Mr.  Usher  had  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 
bookseller  in  North  America.  The  lower  story  of  his 
domicile  served  as  a  shop,  and  the  book-trade  not 

1 08 


THE    CARTER    LOT 


being  very  brisk  at  that  time,  he  dealt  also  in  beef, 
furs,  fish,  grain,  lumber  and  West  Indian  products. 
The  first  books  made  in  this  country  were  printed  for 
him,  and  among  the  many  which  he  published  later 
was  one  entitled:  "Spiritual  Milk  for  Boston  Babes 
in  either  England,"  by  John  Cotton,  1656.  Hezekiah 
Usher  was  one  of  the  Founders  and  an  influential 
member  of  the  Old  South  Church,  and  his  name  ap- 
pears often  in  the  Society's  records.  The  Elders  were 
wont  at  times  to  hold  their  meetings  at  his  house.  He 
was  a  Representative  to  the  General  Court,  and  served 
the  Town  as  Selectman  eighteen  years.  Joining  the 
Artillery  Company  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  at- 
tained the  rank  of  Ensign.  Mr.  Usher  was  the  agent 
of  the  "Corporation  in  England  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  in  New  England."  * 
In  1658  he  went  to  London  as  agent  for  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  United  Colonies,  and  there  bought  a 
press,  type  and  general  printing  outfit.  The  new 
press  was  set  up  in  the  following  year,  and  was  used 
by  Samuel  Green  of  Cambridge  to  print  the  Apostle 
Eliot's  Great  Indian  Bible,  which  was  finished  in 
1663.  Hezekiah  Usher  died  in  1676. 

As  pertaining  to  the  title  of  Carter's  pasture,  we 
quote  from  the  Middlesex  Probate  Records,  Volume 

1  George  E.  Littlefield.    Early  Boston  Booksellers. 

109 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

28,  page  97 :  "these  premises,  heretofore  the  estate  of 
Hezekiah  Usher,  were  conveyed  by  him,  March  9, 
1686,  to  Samuel  Sewall  of  Boston,  merchant,  and 
Daniel  Quincey,  goldsmith,  since  deceased,  by  a  con- 
ditional deed.  And  for  the  condition  broken,  pos- 
session of  the  said  estate  was  recovered  by  law  at  the 
suit  of  the  said  Samuel  Sewall  and  Anna  Quincey, 
executrix  of  Daniel  Quincey,  and  afterwards  quit- 
claimed by  them  unto  the  said  Bridget  Usher." 

Hezekiah  Usher  the  younger  (eldest  child  of  the 
bookseller),  who  became  the  owner  of  Carter's  pas- 
ture in  1679,  was  born  in  Cambridge  June  6,  1639. 
He  early  developed  a  taste  for  land  speculation,  in- 
vesting chiefly  in  mining  properties  which  proved 
to  be  of  little  value.  At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he 
married  Bridget  (Lisle)  Hoar,  widow  of  Dr.  Leonard 
Hoar,  President  of  Harvard  College.  She  was  a 
brilliant  and  fascinating  woman.  Her  father,  John 
Lisle,  was  one  of  the  judges  at  the  trial  of  King 
Charles  I,  a  member  of  Cromwell's  House  of  Lords, 
and  a  man  of  distinction  under  the  Commonwealth. 
Her  mother,  Lady  Alicia  Lisle,  was  convicted  of  har- 
boring partizans  of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  after  the 
battle  of  Sedgemoor,  and  was  executed  at  Winches- 
ter in  September,  1685,  at  tne  behest  of  the  brutal 
Judge  Jeffreys.  The  marriage  was  an  unhappy  one. 

no 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


Mr.  Usher  accused  his  wife  of  gross  worldliness  and 
extravagance,  and  she  averred  that  he  was  not  suffi- 
ciently orthodox  in  his  religious  belief.  They  sepa- 
rated in  1687,  and  she  went  to  England,  where  she 
made  her  home  for  ten  years.  After  her  husband's 
death,  she  returned  to  Boston,  and  was  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  the  social  life  of  the  Town  for  a  quarter  of 
a  century  thereafter. 

On  June  20,  1679,  Mr.  Usher  bought  of  Mary  Wil- 
lard  (widow  of  Major  Simon  Willard)  about  400 
acres  at  a  place  called  Nonacoicus,  in  that  part  of 
Groton  now  within  the  limits  of  Ayer.  One-quarter 
of  this  farm  was  sold  by  him  May  n,  1687,  to  Jona- 
than Tyng  of  Dunstable,  together  with  all  the  "gar- 
dens, orchards,  yards,  lands,  pastures,  meadows, 
swamps,  woods,  underwoods,  waters,  watercourses, 
fishings,  floodings,  trees  and  ways  thereto  belonging." 
(Middlesex  Registry  of  Deeds.  X.  page  49.)  Mr. 
Usher  was  living  on  this  farm  when  King  William's 
War  began.  Much  uneasiness  prevailed  in  Groton 
and  other  frontier  towns  on  account  of  the  Indians. 
On  August  10,  1689,  the  Governor  and  Council  or- 
dered Captain  James  Parker,  of  the  Groton  Foot 
Company,  to  reenforce  Hezekiah  Usher's  garrison  at 
Nonacoicus  with  three  extra  men  for  its  defense. 

On  May  25,  1681,  Mr.  Usher  bought  another  farm 

in 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

at  a  place  called  Cold  Spring,  in  the  northern  part 
of  Groton,  "with  all  the  mines  and  minerals  of  one 
kind  or  other,  that  may  be  found  there."  He  was 
given  liberty  to  dig,  delve  and  make  use  of  said  land 
at  his  pleasure,  and  to  pass  and  repass  thereover  on 
foot  or  horseback  or  with  carts  and  teams  of  any 
kind. 

Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green,  the  historian  of  Groton,  has 
stated  that  the  chief  mineral  found  in  that  locality  is 
marcasite,  a  form  of  iron  pyrites,  which  has  a  lustrous 
appearance  when  polished,  and  was  formerly  used  in 
the  manufacture  of  articles  for  personal  adornment. 
In  later  years  Mr.  Usher  was  accused  of  witchcraft 
and  narrowly  escaped  imprisonment.  He  died  at 
Lynn  July  n,  1697.  His  Will,  which  was  dated  Au- 
gust 17,  1689,  a*  Nonacoicus,  is  an  interesting  and 
unique  document.  A  brief  extract  shows  that  it  was 
written  under  the  stress  of  bitter  feeling: 

"One  had  better  have  a  wife  that  had  not  been 
worth  a  groat  than  to  have  one  that  hath  no  love  for 
him.  ...  I  do  not  excuse  myself  altogether,  but  my 
love  to  my  wife  and  admiring  of  her  genteel  carriage 
occasioned  her  and  her  complices  to  usurp  that  power 
over  me,  whereby  I  have  been  cunningly  overreached 
and  abused  several  ways." 

John  Usher,  a  brother  of  Hezekiah,  Junior,  suc- 

112 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


ceeded  his  father  in  business  as  a  bookseller  in  Corn- 
hill.  He  was  Colonel  of  the  Boston  regiment,  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Sessions,  and  Treasurer  of 
the  Colony  under  Sir  Edmund  Andros  during  the 
inter-charter  period. 

Afterward  removing  to  Portsmouth,  he  served  as 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Hampshire  for  five 
years. 

In  1715  he  made  his  home  in  Medford,  where  he 
owned  and  occupied  the  historic  mansion  later  known 
as  the  Royall  house. 

John  West,  Secretary 

IN  the  Spring  of  1688  the  Usher  mansion  was 
rented  to  John  West,  who  occupied  it  for  less  than 
a  year.  He  was  an  English  merchant,  and  a  former 
resident  of  New  York,  who  had  held  various  posi- 
tions of  responsibility.  At  that  time  he  was  serving 
as  Secretary  to  Governor  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  and 
as  Assistant  Register  of  the  Suffolk  Probate  Court. 
The  rule  of  Andros  had  become  obnoxious  to  the  peo- 
ple of  Massachusetts,  and  both  he  and  his  subordi- 
nates were  extremely  unpopular  with  them,  and  were 
regarded  as  a  "crew  of  abject  persons."  What  es- 
pecially caused  resentment  was  the  fact  that  most  of 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

these  officials  had  been  brought  here  from  other  Col- 
onies. It  was  the  Governor's  policy  "to  break  down 
the  power  of  the  Puritan  oligarchies  in  New  England, 
and  to  weld  them  into  one  strongly  governed  State, 
which  should  be  able  to  show  a  firm  front  to  the  en- 
croachments of  the  French." 

On  the  eighteenth  of  April,  1689,  the  populace  in 
and  around  Boston  rose  in  arms,  and  great  excite- 
ment prevailed.  Men  and  boys  were  seen  running 
through  the  streets,  brandishing  weapons,  and  en- 
couraging each  other  to  free  themselves  of  an  arbi- 
trary and  tyrannical  government.  Andros  and  his 
followers  were  disarmed  and  imprisoned.  The  Gov- 
ernor was  placed  under  guard  in  the  house  of  John 
Usher,  and  later  removed  to  the  Castle,  on  the  site 
of  Fort  Independence.  John  West  and  others  were 
confined  in  the  Town  prison,  and  afterwards  they  too 
were  removed  to  the  Castle,  there  to  remain  in  the 
custody  of  Captain  Fairweather,  subject  to  the  King's 
pleasure. 

Finally,  in  obedience  to  an  order  from  King  Wil- 
liam, Andros  and  a  number  of  his  subordinates,  in- 
cluding John  West,  were  sent  to  England,  sailing 
February  10,  1690. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  popular  feeling  at  that 
period,  we  quote  from  a  Declaration  of  the  Gentle- 

114 


THE    CARTER   LOT 


men,  Merchants  and  Inhabitants  of  Boston  and  the 
Country  Adjacent,  April,  1689.  It  was  stated  therein 
that  under  the  Government  of  Andros  care  was  taken 
to  load  Preferments  principally  upon  such  Men  as 
were  Strangers  to  and  Haters  of  the  People.  It  was 
moreover  plainly  affirmed  both  by  some  in  open  Coun- 
cil, and  by  the  same  in  private  Converse,  that  the 
people  of  New  England  were  all  Slaves,  and  the  only 
difference  between  them  and  negro  Slaves  was  the 
fact  that  the  New  England  people  were  not  bought 
and  sold  as  chattels  in  the  market.  And  it  was  a 
maxim  expressed  in  open  Court  by  one  of  the  Council, 
"that  we  must  not  think  that  the  Priviledges  of  Eng- 
lishmen would  follow  us  to  the  End  of  the  World. 
.  .  .  We  were  every  day  told  that  no  Man  was  the 
owner  of  a  Foot  of  Land  in  the  Colony."1 

Major-General  Waitstill  Winthrop 

OOON  after  John  West's  imprisonment,  the  Usher 
^  house  was  rented  to  Wait-Still  Winthrop  (1642- 
1717),  who  occupied  it  about  eight  years.  He  was 
a  son  of  Governor  John  Winthrop  of  Connecticut,  and 
a  grandson  of  John  Winthrop,  Governor  of  Massa- 

1An  Account  of  the  Late  Revolution  in  New  England,  by  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Byfield,  a  Merchant  of  Bristol. 

"5 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

chusetts,  and  had  been  active  in  helping  to  bring-  about 
the  overthrow  and  deportation  of  Andros  and  his  as- 
sociates. He  entered  Harvard  College,  but  left  the 
Institution  before  graduating,  to  engage  in  military 
service,  and  had  a  command  in  King  Philip's  War. 
In  1689  he  became  a  member  of  the  Council  for  the 
Safety  of  the  people  and  Conservation  of  the  Peace, 
and  served  for  thirty  years  as  Commander-in-chief  of 
the  Provincial  Forces,  with  the  rank  of  Major-Gen- 
eral.  He  was  also  Chief  Justice  of  the  Superior 
Court,  and  Judge  of  Admiralty.  General  Winthrop 
married  (first)  Mary,  daughter  of  Hon.  William 
Browne  of  Salem.  He  was  a  widower  for  many 
years.  In  Sewall's  Diary,  August  12,  1698,  is  this 
item: 

"  'Tis  told  all  about  the  Town  that  Major  Generall 
(Winthrop)  courts  Mary  Howard." 

He  did  not  marry  again,  however,  until  1707,  when 
Katharine,  daughter  of  Captain  Thomas  Brattle,  and 
the  widow  of  John  Eyre,  became  his  wife.  .  .  .  Wait 
Winthrop  inherited  a  marked  taste  for  the  science 
of  therapeutics,  in  which  he  was  well  versed;  and 
practised  Medicine  without  recompense  among  his 
poorer  neighbors  long  before  the  existence  of  free 
Dispensaries.  To  quote  once  more  from  the  Diary 
of  Judge  Sewall: 

116 


"Wait  Winthrop  was  the  great  stay  and  ornament 
of  the  Council;  a  very  pious,  prudent,  courageous 
New  England  man."  In  1716  he  joined  a  company 
of  Boston  merchants,  to  whom  the  General  Court  had 
granted  the  monopoly  of  making  salt.  Their  works 
were  alongside  of  the  Neck,  towards  Roxbury. 

Following  is  the  translation  of  a  portion  of  a  curi- 
ous Latin  epitaph.  An  old  manuscript,  believed  to 
be  in  the  hand-writing  of  Governor  Winthrop,  refers 
to  its  having  been  inscribed  upon  the  Winthrop  tomb : 

WAIT  WINTHROP,  ESQUIRE 

He  was,  alas!  he  was 

Of  New  England  the  Glory  and  Defence; 

The  Light  and  Stay; 

Major-General  of  Massachusetts  Colony; 

Of  a  noble  yet  peaceful  disposition; 

And  who  for  his  Country  and  for  peace  could  die ; 

President  of  the  Council  for  the  Province; 

Whose  chief est  care  it  always  was  that  the  Common- 
wealth might  receive  no  damage; 

.  .  .    Chief  Judge,  who  paid  an  equal  regard  to  Jus- 
tice  and  Clemency.  .  .  . 

He  was  skilful  in  Physick; 

And  being  possessed  of  Golden  Secrets, 

Indeed  more  valuable  than  Gold  itself. 

And  having  obtained  universal  remedies,  which  Hip- 
pocrates and  Helmont  never  knew, 

117 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

All  that  were  sick,  wherever  he  came, 
He  freely  restored  to  Health; 

And  made  almost  his  whole  study  of  Nature  sub- 
servient to  Medicine. 


Francis  Wainwright 

FRANCIS  WAINWRIGHT  of  Boston,  a  son  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  Wainwright  of  Ipswich,  was 
the  next  owner  of  the  Carter  lot,  having  bought  it  of 
Bridget  (Lisle)  Usher,  May  31,  1714,  for  £1,000. 
His  emigrant  ancestor,  Francis  Wainwright  of 
Chelmsford,  England,  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers 
of  Ipswich,  Massachusetts.  He  distinguished  him- 
self greatly  during  the  war  against  the  Pequot  In- 
dians in  1637.  On  one  occasion  he  pursued  a  band 
of  the  savages  until  his  ammunition  gave  out,  and  then 
slew  two  of  them  with  the  butt  of  his  musket,  carry- 
ing away  their  heads  as  trophies  of  his  valor.  In 
later  years,  "by  his  diligence  and  sagacity  in  business, 
he  became  a  wealthy,  useful  and  respectable  citizen."1 
Francis  Wainwright  of  Boston  was  a  graduate  of 
Harvard,  Class  of  1707,  and  a  merchant.  He  served 
as  constable  in  1714,  one  of  his  duties  being  to  col- 
lect assessments  from  the  townspeople  "for  the  sup- 
1 J.  B.  Felt.  History  of  Ipswich. 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


port  of  the  Watch."    His  wife  was  Mary,  the  fourth 
daughter  of  Governor  Joseph  Dudley. 

Addington  Davenport 

R.  WAINWRIGHT  mortgaged  the  Carter  lot, 
December  28,  1720,  to  Addington  Davenport, 
Thomas  and  Edward  Hutchinson,  et  al.f  who  were 
trustees  of  a  fund  of  £50,000,  belonging  to  the  Prov- 
ince, which  was  to  be  loaned  to  the  inhabitants  at  five 
per  cent  Interest.  Judge  Addington  Davenport  was 
a  son  of  Captain  Eleazar  Davenport,  a  mariner,  whose 
wife  was  Rebecca  Addington.  His  grandfather, 
Captain  Richard  Davenport,  came  over  from  Eng- 
land in  the  Abigail  in  1628.  He  was  ensign  of  the 
Salem  train-band.  When  Governor  John  Endicott 
cut  the  Cross  of  St.  George  from  the  English  flag, 
Captain  Davenport  gave  the  name  of  "True-Cross" 
to  a  daughter  born  that  year.  He  was  a  promi- 
nent military  man  in  the  earliest  years  of  the  Colony, 
and  was  wounded  in  the  Pequot  war.  He  joined 
the  Artillery  Company  in  1639.  The  first  settlers 
built  a  fort  of  mud  in  Boston  Harbor.  This  was 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Fort  Independence.  In  1643 
it  was  rebuilt  of  pine  trees  and  earth,  and  placed  in 
charge  of  Captain  Davenport.  Later  a  small  brick 

119 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

castle  was  constructed,  which  was  called  Castle  Wil- 
liam. On  July  15,  1665,  Captain  Davenport  was 
asleep  in  this  building,  his  room  being  separated  from 
the  powder  magazine  by  a  slight  partition,  and  was 
killed  by  lightning  during  a  severe  storm.1  Judge 
Addington  Davenport  was  born  August  3,  1670.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  in  1689  and  traveled  exten- 
sively in  England,  Spain  and  the  West  Indies.  Re- 
turning to  Boston,  he  became  Clerk  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  under  the  second  Charter,  of  1692, 
and  Register  of  Deeds  for  Suffolk  County.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  Brattle  Street  Church  in  1699, 
a  Selectman  of  Boston  and  a  member  of  Governor 
Dudley's  Council. 

In  1715  he  was  appointed  a  Judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Judicature.  He  was  also  one  of  the  judges 
of  a  Court  assembled  at  Newport  in  1723,  for  the  trial 
of  pirates.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  Wainwright,  of  Ipswich. 

The  Reverend  Addington  Davenport,  eldest  of 
eight  children  of  the  preceding,  was  born  in  Boston 
May  1 6,  1701.  (Harvard  College,  1719.)  He  prac- 
tised law  for  some  years,  and  was  appointed  Attorney 
General  in  1728.  Visiting  England  in  1732,  he  re- 

*  History   of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery   Company. 
1.87. 

1 2O 


THE    CARTER   LOT 


ceived  a  Master's  degree  at  Oxford,  and  took  orders 
in  the  Church.  Returning  to  Massachusetts,  he 
served  for  three  years  as  missionary  at  St.  Andrew's 
Church  in  Scituate,  and  for  a  like  period  as  assistant 
minister  of  King's  Chapel.  He  became  the  first  rec- 
tor of  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  in  1740,  and  held  that 
office  until  his  death  in  1746. 

Thomas  and  Edward  Hutchinson,  two  of  the  mort- 
gagees above-mentioned,  were  among  the  most  influ- 
ential citizens  of  the  Town.  The  former  (171 1-1780) 
was  the  son  of  a  rich  Boston  merchant,  and  a  gradu- 
ate of  Harvard  in  1727,  who  held  many  important 
offices.  He  was  Selectman,  Representative,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Council,  Judge  of  Probate,  and  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  Superior  Court  of  the  Province.  He  was 
also  the  author  of  a  valuable  History  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay.  Mr.  Hutchinson  was  the  last  royal  Gov- 
ernor, being  succeeded  in  1774  by  General  Thomas 
Gage  as  Military  Governor.  He  then  went  to  Eng- 
land and  became  an  adviser  of  King  George  III  and 
the  British  ministry ;  and  in  this  capacity  he  uniformly 
counseled  a  policy  of  moderation  in  all  dealings  with 
the  American  Colonies.  In  1775  he  was  elected  to 
Parliament,  where  he  opposed  the  notorious  and  op- 
pressive Boston  Port  Bill,  "a  measure  for  suspending 
the  trade  and  closing  the  harbor  of  Boston  during  the 

121 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

King's  pleasure." 

Edward  Hutchinson,  of  Boston,  a  half-brother  of 
the  Governor,  was  actively  engaged  in  civic  affairs 
during  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He 
held  the  positions  of  Constable,  Selectman,  member 
of  the  Legislature,  Justice  of  the  Inferior  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  and  Judge  of  Probate.  He  was  also 
the  Treasurer  of  Harvard  College  for  thirty  years,  a 
Colonel  in  the  militia,  and  Captain  in  the  Artillery 
Company.  His  residence  was  opposite  the  head  of 
Hancock's  wharf  on  North  Street,  and  was  after- 
ward known  as  the  North  End  Coffee  House,  where 
the  Proprietor,  David  Porter,  who  had  been  a  sea- 
rover  during  the  Revolution,  advertised  in  1783  that 
"gentlemen  shall  be  entertained  in  a  genteel  manner." 

Jonathan  Williams 

JONATHAN  WILLIAMS,  the  younger  (1699- 
1788),  of  Boston,  wine-merchant,  acquired  posses- 
sion of  the  lot  in  question,  May  28,  1739,  together  with 
the  "brick  wall  thereon  standing,  and  all  the  houses, 
barns,  stables,  fences,  alleys,  passages,  wells  and  wa- 
ter-courses thereunto  belonging."  His  father,  Jona- 
than Williams,  Senior  (d.  1737),  was  keeper  of  the 
Granary,  which  then  stood  at  the  upper  side  of  the 

122 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


Common,  but  was  removed  soon  afterward  to  the 
foot  of  Park  Street,  where  the  Church  now  stands. 
The  Granary  was  established  in  order  that  the  poorer 
townspeople  might  obtain  grain  in  small  quantities  at 
the  lowest  possible  cost.  ...  At  a  Town  meeting, 
March  8,  1730,  it  was  voted  that  Mr.  Jonathan  Wil- 
liams be  "alowed  and  paid  out  of  the  Town  Treasury 
the  sum  of  seventy  pounds  Pr  Annum  for  his  service 
in  managing  the  Grainery."  And  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Selectmen,  May  23,  1733,  he  was  appointed  "to  re- 
ceive the  money  due  from  the  owners  of  the  Cows 
going  at  large  on  the  Common." 

The  name  of  Jonathan  Williams,  the  younger,  ap- 
pears frequently  in  the  municipal  records.  He  had  a 
wine-shop  on  Cornhill  (the  portion  of  Washington 
Street  between  School  Street  and  Dock  Square)  where 
he  also  resided. 

He  served  the  Town  at  different  times  as  Clerk 
of  the  Market,  Constable,  Fireward  and  Visitor  of  the 
Schools.  In  the  year  1767  there  prevailed  a  period  of 
economic  depression,  which  was  thought  to  have  been 
largely  due  to  the  extensive  employment  of  foreign 
products.  Mr.  Williams  was  one  of  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  "lessen  the  use  of  loaf  sugar,  men's  and 
women's  hats,  gloves,  snuff,  mustard,  clocks  and 
watches,  muffs,  furs  and  tippets,  fire-engines,  china- 

123 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

ware,"  and  divers  other  articles.  He  was  in  full  sym- 
pathy and  association  with  the  leading  patriots  of 
those  days.  It  was  Jonathan  Williams  who  presided, 
by  unanimous  election,  at  the  great  mass  meeting  of 
inhabitants  of  Boston  and  the  neighboring  towns,  on 
November  29,  1773,  called  to  devise  measures  to  pre- 
vent the  landing  of  chests  of  tea  from  British  vessels 
then  arriving  in  the  harbor.  This  meeting,  the  largest 
ever  assembled  in  Boston  up  to  that  time,  met  first 
at  Faneuil  Hall,  and  adjourned  to  the  Old  South 
Church,  where  Samuel  Adams,  General  Joseph  War- 
ren and  John  Hancock  were  among  the  principal 
speakers.  A  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Williams  for  his 
services  on  that  occasion  was  afterward  passed. 

Green  and  Russell's  Boston  Post-Boy  and  Adver- 
tiser, January  n,  1762,  has  this  notice: 

"Whereas  there  was  taken  out  of  the  House  of 
Jonathan  Williams,  in  Cornhill,  on  the  23rd  inst,  two 
great-coats,  one  of  his  own  wearing,  a  cloth  coloured 
Drab;  Whoever  has  taken  them,  and  will  return  the 
first  to  said  Williams,  shall  have  the  latter  gratis,  and 
no  Questions  asked." 

Similar  notices  were  not  uncommon  in  the  newspa- 
pers of  the  Provincial  era.  For  example,  the  follow- 
ing Proclamation  appeared  in  an  issue  of  the  Boston 
News-Letter,  of  the  year  1720: 

124 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


"Whereas  some  evil-minded  persons,  on  or  about 
the  22nd  day  of  January  last,  being  blindly  led  to  fol- 
low the  dictates  of  their  own  corrupt  hearts,  did  seek, 
after  a  grope  in  the  dark,  for  the  sign  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Tyley,  one  of  the  public  Notaries  of  the  Province,  and 
having  discovered  the  same,  their  distempered  eyes 
could  not  bear  the  sight  of  it;  because,  (as  is  supposed) 
it  was  such  a  manifest  sign  of  the  power  committed 
to  him  by  the  Government;  so  that  their  high-flying 
zeal  exalted  them  above  measure  to  reach  up  thereto, 
and  by  force  and  arms  to  pull  down,  carry  away  or  de- 
stroy the  same,  contrary  to  law,  and  against  the 
peace  of  our  Sovereign  Lord,  the  King;  these  are 
therefore  to  give  notice  that,  if  any  persons  shall  give 
evidence  against  the  malefactors,  so  as  they  may  be 
convicted,  such  informers  shall  be  generally  rewarded 
for  their  good  services." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen,  January  26,  1715, 
"they  being  sensible  of  the  great  Perplexity  that  the 
Inhabitants  of  this  Town  Labour  under,  by  reason  of 
the  Frequent  Attempts  Lately  made  of  Robbery  in 
several  parts  of  ye  Town,"  it  was  voted  to  petition 
the  Governor  and  Council  to  issue  a  reward  for  the 
apprehension  of  the  thieves,  "and  for  the  more  effec- 
tual discovery  of  the  Combination  or  Knotts  of  Rob- 
bers, with  which  the  Town  hath  been  of  late  dis- 
tressed." 

125 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  a  Boston 
newspaper,  July  19,  1725:  "Last  Tuesday  night  some 
wicked  and  evil-minded  person  or  persons  broke  into 
the  Governor's  Coach  House,  and  maliciously  broke 
the  front  glass  of  his  Excellency's  Chariot.  Who- 
ever can  give  any  intelligence  to  Mr.  John  Boydell 
at  the  Governour's  house  in  Boston,  of  the  Actor  or 
Actors  of  so  unheard  of  villainy,  so  as  he  or  they  may 
be  brought  to  Condign  Punishment,  shall  receive  of 
him  a  reward  of  Ten  Pounds." 

Here  follows  a  Notice  from  the  Boston  Evening 
Post,  October  29,  1753: 

"Lately  lost  in  one  of  the  streets  of  Boston,  or  on 
the  Long  Wharf,  an  Irish  Stitch  Pocket-Book,  with 
about  Thirty  Pounds  in  Bills  of  the  Old  Tenor,  and 
a  great  number  of  Papers  and  Accounts  of  no  Use  to 
any  Body  but  the  Owner  of  the  Book.  If  the  Per- 
son who  has  it('s)  Possession,  will  return  it  to  the 
Owner,  with  the  Money  and  Papers,  he  or  she  shall 
be  very  well  rewarded  for  their  Trouble  and  Care. 
But  if  their  Consciences  shall  suffer  them  to  keep  the 
Money,  yet  they  are  desired  to  contrive  some  way  or 
other,  that  the  Owner  may  have  his  Book  and  Papers 
again. 

N.  B. — They  may  throw  it  over  the  Wall  into  the 
Printer's  Yard" 

126 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


A  keen  business  rivalry  appears  to  have  existed 
between  Mr.  Williams  and  John  Hamock,  another 
wine-merchant,  of  Boston.  This  led  to  the  publica- 
tion of  spicy  advertisements  in  several  issues  of  a 
contemporary  newspaper,  as  follows : 

Monday,  January  15,  1750. 

"To  be  Sold  Cheap  by  John  Hamock,  nigh  the 
Town  House,  Boston;  A  Valuable  Collection  of  the 
most  nutritive  Wines  and  other  Spirituous  Liquors, 
reserved  out  of  all  that  was  imported  last  Year;  and 
quite  different  from  the  Stuff  the  Wine-Coopers  Sell, 
which,  I  believe,  tend  rather  to  destroy  Men's  Lives 
than  to  Save  them." 

Monday  Jan'y  22,  1750. 

"To  be  sold  at  the  Cheapest  Rate  by  Jonathan  Wil- 
liams at  the  Black  Boy  and  But  in  Cornhill,  Boston. 

Choice  Vidona,  George's,  Pico  or  Fayal  Wines,  &c., 
well  approv'd  of  by  the  best  judges,  and  reckoned  to 
be  some  of  the  best  Wines  of  the  Sort  in  Town.  And 
notwithstanding  the  Mean  &  Base  Insinuation  of  John 
Hamock  in  his  late  Advertisement,  I  doubt  not  will 
yet  be  esteem'd  and  prefer'd  by  all  Gentlemen  of  Taste 
in  Town  and  Country." 

January  22,  1750. 

"To  the  Author  of  the  Post-Boy, 

"Sir,  Tho'  any  Man  of  Common  Sense  must  think 
that  the  Advertisement  refer'd  to  by  Mr.  Jonathan 

127 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Williams  was  intended  as  a  Jest,  yet  I  find  (tho'  mean 
and  base  as  it  is)  he  has  been  so  weak  as  to  take  it  to 
himself  in  another  Shape,  I  must  therefore  beg  Leave 
to  quote  the  old  Proverb  to  him,  Viz.  that  'there  are 
many  true  Words  spoke  in  Jest.' — And  another,  that 
'touch  a  gall'd  Horse,  and  he'l  winch.' 

"I  believe  he  had  better  have  been  silent,  and  drank 
a  Glass  of  good,  nutritive  Wine  (if  he  has  any  such), 
than  to  have  exposed  his  Bitterness  and  Folly  in  tak- 
ing Notice  of  it. 

"Your  most  humble  Servant, 

"V.  D." 
[John  Hamock.] 

John  Hamock  or  Hammock  had  a  wine-shop  on 
Shrimpton's  Lane,  now  Exchange  Street.  He  was 
approved  and  recommended  by  the  Selectmen  as  an 
Innholder,  and  licensed  to  sell  strong  drink,  August 
J7»  J738.  He  was  styled  "Captain"  in  the  Town  Rec- 
ords. At  a  meeting  of  the  Congregation  of  Christ 
Church,  Boston,  holden  on  Easter  Monday,  April  26, 
1736,  Mr.  John  Hammock  was  chosen  a  Vestryman 
and  served  as  such  seven  years,  and  as  warden  four 
years.  His  name  is  inscribed  on  one  of  the  bells 
within  the  steeple  of  the  Church,  in  recognition  of 
his  zeal  in  obtaining  funds  wherewith  to  defray  the 
cost  of  the  chime. 


128 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


The  Reverend  Roger  Price 

THE  Reverend  Roger  Price  (1696-1762),  an 
English  clergyman,  with  his  family,  occupied  the 
spacious  house  on  this  lot  and  fronting  on  Common 
Street,  for  several  years.  The  owner,  Stephen  Green- 
leaf,  was  a  relative  of  Mrs.  Price.  This  was  one  of 
the  most  pretentious  estates  at  the  south  end  of  the 
Town,  and  in  later  years  was  known  as  the  Wash- 
ington Gardens.  After  graduating  at  Balliol  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  in  1717,  Mr.  Price  took  orders  in  the 
Church  of  England.  He  then  made  a  voyage  to 
West  Africa  and  accepted  a  position  as  Chaplain  at 
Widdaw,  on  the  coast  of  Guinea.  While  en  route 
there  he  was  relieved  by  pirates  of  most  of  his  per- 
sonal belongings.  He  next  visited  the  British  West 
Indies,  and  served  for  a  time  as  minister  of  Saint 
Ann's  Parish,  in  Jamaica.  Returning  to  England,  he 
spent  two  years  in  retirement  at  Leigh  in  Essex.  He 
then  accepted  an  invitation  to  become  the  rector  of 
King's  Chapel,  Boston,  and  was  inducted  into  that 
office,  June  25,  1729,  with  appropriate  formalities,  in 
accordance  with  the  time-honored  usage  of  the  Church 
of  England.  After  the  reading  of  his  license  and  cer- 
tificate of  appointment,  the  wardens,  vestry  and  mem- 

129 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

bers  of  the  congregation  all  left  the  church,  where- 
upon Mr.  Price  locked  himself  in,  and  tolled  the  bell. 
Then,  opening  the  doors,  he  formally  received  the 
Parish  officers  and  people,  who  congratulated  him  on 
having  possession  of  the  church.1  Mr.  Price  re- 
mained as  rector  for  seventeen  years.  Toward  the 
latter  part  of  his  incumbency,  he  became  somewhat 
discontented,  and  wrote  the  Bishop  of  London  that  he 
"found  the  New  England  ministers  too  overbearing, 
and  to  want  some  balance."  And  again  he  wrote  that 
his  "parishioners  were  for  the  most  part  very  haughty, 
and  expect  more  compliance  from  a  minister  than  is 
consistent  with  his  character  or  comfort."  He  re- 
signed as  rector  in  November,  1746,  and  took  up  his 
residence  in  the  town  of  Hopkinton,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  already  owned  a  country  place  and  consid- 
erable land.  Here  too  was  the  favorite  summer  re- 
sort of  some  of  his  parishioners.  At  Hopkinton  Mr. 
Price  built  a  small  church  at  his  own  expense,  and  ob- 
tained an  endowment  of  170  acres  of  glebe  land,  whose 
revenues  contributed  to  its  support.  Soon  after  Mr. 
Price's  arrival  at  Boston,  the  Right  Reverend  Ed- 
mund Gibson,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  London,  appointed 
him  Commissary  over  the  Episcopal  Churches  in  New 
England,  with  authority  to  exercise  spiritual  jurisdic- 
1  Annals  of  King's  Chapel. 

130 


THE    CARTER    LOT 


tion.  He  was  the  only  clergyman  thus  honored  in 
the  history  of  the  English  Colonies  in  America.  In 
this  capacity  it  devolved  upon  him  to  call  conventions 
of  the  Episcopal  clergy;  and  the  first  one  was  held 
in  Christ  Church,  Boston,  in  September,  1738.  Mr. 
Price  returned  to  England  with  his  family  in  1753, 
and  again  made  his  home  at  Leigh,  a  small  town  in 
Essex,  where  he  had  a  living. 

In  March,  1780,  the  Hon.  Oliver  Prescott,  of  Gro- 
ton,  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  County  of  Middlesex, 
in  response  to  a  petition  from  the  Selectmen  of  Hop- 
kinton,  appointed  Captain  Gilbert  Bench  agent  to  care 
for  four  farms,  so  called  "British  property,"  lying  in 
Hopkinton,  and  belonging  to  the  estate  of  Mr.  Price. 
The  latter  had  found  living  in  Boston  very  ex- 
pensive and  "his  situation  very  uneasy."  In  remov- 
ing to  Hopkinton  and  founding  Saint  Paul's  Church 
there,  he  hoped  that  it  might  serve  as  a  sanctuary 
for  persecuted  Churchmen.  He  seems  to  have  been 
an  earnest  and  devoted  minister,  who  had  more- 
over a  taste  for  country  life.  He  occasionally  hunted 
foxes  in  company  with  Sir  Henry  Frankland,  Col- 
lector of  the  Port  of  Boston,  who  had  a  fine  estate 
in  Hopkinton,  where  he  was  wont  to  entertain  his 
friends.  And  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Price  lost  caste  in  the  community  by  reason  of 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

his  indulgence  in  field  sports.  The  famous  glebe  land, 
instead  of  being  a  help,  was  for  many  years  a 
hindrance.  Until  comparatively  recent  times,  it 
yielded  but  little  income,  and  paralyzed  the  incentive 
to  give  generously.  People  said,  "Oh,  there  is  the 
glebe,  nearly  200  acres  of  land."  As  if  any  parish 
or  rector  could  be  supported  by  stones,  timber,  and 
a  gravel  pit,  or  lands  gone  to  waste  by  neglect.1  When 
Major  William  Price  (a  son  of  the  Reverend  Roger 
Price)  returned  to  America  in  1783,  to  recover  his 
father's  property,  he  found  that  the  Hopkinton  lands 
had  been  taken  by  the  Town  authorities;  but  as  the 
Prices  were  neither  Tories  nor  aliens,  most  of  the 
land  was  regained. 

Major  Price  found  that  Saint  Paul's  Church  at 
Hopkinton  was  occupied  by  an  old  woman  named 
Fanning,  and  her  daughter.  The  interior  was  as 
black  as  charcoal,  there  being  no  chimney.  Various 
attempts  to  eject  these  intruders  were  unsuccessful, 
until  it  became  necessary  to  remove  the  windows,  a 
proceeding  which  enforced  their  departure,  inasmuch 
as  they  were  squatters,  without  any  right  or  title  to 
the  Church  property. 

*An  Historical  Sermon,  by  Rev.  Waldo  Burnett.  This  manu- 
script is  preserved  among  the  records  of  Saint  Paul's  Church  in 
Hopkinton. 

132 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


Sheriff  Stephen  Greenleaf 

JONATHAN  WILLIAMS  and  Martha,  his  wife, 
sold  the  Carter's  pasture  lot,  August  25,  1742,  to 
Stephen  Greenleaf,  merchant.  And  on  May  28,  1754, 
the  latter  bought  of  Daniel  Tent  Tuckerman,  "taylor," 
and  Stephen  Harris,  baker,  and  Thankfull,  his  wife, 
all  of  Boston,  a  small  parcel  of  land  adjacent  to  the 
above-mentioned  lot  on  the  north,  and  including  the 
westerly  two-thirds  of  the  lo-foot  strip  previously 
described,  now  a  part  of  the  Cathedral  land.  .  .  . 
Stephen  Greenleaf,  a  son  of  the  Reverend  Daniel  and 
Elizabeth  (Gookin)  Greenleaf,  was  born  October  4, 
1704.  He  was  a  Harvard  graduate  of  the  year  1723. 
(A.M.,  Yale,  1750.)  After  leaving  College  he  ob- 
tained a  position  as  clerk  in  a  Boston  store,  but  soon 
began  business  on  his  own  account,  and  was  for  many 
years  a  successful  merchant.  He  was  one  of  a  num- 
ber of  "well-disposed  Gentlemen  in  London,  Boston 
and  elsewhere,"  who  responded  in  1745  to  an  appeal 
from  the  wardens  of  Christ  Church,  Boston,  and 
helped  defray  the  cost  of  a  "fine  ring  of  bells"  for 
that  Church.  This  was  the  first  chime  of  bells  in 
North  America.  Mr.  Greenleaf  was  the  owner  of  a 
pew  in  King's  Chapel,  and  was  one  of  the  subscribers 

133 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

for  a  new  organ,  which  was  built  in  London  in  1756. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen,  October  31,  1748,  he 
was  appointed  a  member  of  Prison  Fire-Engine  Com- 
pany Number  Seven. 

He  was  the  sheriff  of  Suffolk  County  during  the 
administration  of  the  unpopular  Governor,  Sir  Fran- 
cis Bernard,  in  the  troublous  times  preceding  the  Rev- 
olution. When  Governor  Bernard  arrived,  coming 
by  land  in  his  stately  chariot  in  August,  1760,  Sheriff 
Greenleaf  and  other  officials  with  a  troop  of  horse- 
guards  escorted  him  from  Wrentham  to  Dedham,  on 
the  journey  to  his  residence  at  the  Province  House  in 
Boston.  Being  a  staunch  Royalist,  Mr.  Greenleaf 
remained  in  Town  during  the  Siege,  exercising  the 
authority  of  his  office  within  the  lines. 

At  this  period  a  battalion  of  British  troops  was  said 
to  have  been  quartered  on  his  fine  estate  opposite  the 
Common.  After  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
he  resigned  as  sheriff,  and  remained  in  comparative 
retirement  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  ninety-one. 
In  the  inventory  of  his  estate,  dated  February  13, 
1795,  the  "Mansion  House  and  land,  near  the  Com- 
mon," were  appraised  at  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

In  the  summer  of  1774,  Earl  Percy,  who  com- 
manded the  troops  sent  to  cover  the  retreat  of  Major 
Pitcairn's  forces,  on  April  19  of  the  following  year, 

134 


THE    CARTER   LOT 


was  occupying  a  fine  mansion  belonging  to  John  Wil- 
liams, Inspector-General  of  the  Customs,  on  the  north- 
erly corner  of  Tremont  and  Winter  Streets.  Earl 
Percy  was  therefore  a  near  neighbor  of  Sheriff 
Greenleaf,  and  several  regiments  of  the  former's 
command  were  encamped  on  the  Common  at  the  time 
above  mentioned. 


General  Henry  Jackson 

N  March  9,  1796,  the  Reverend  Doctor  Samuel 
Parker  (rector  of  Trinity  Church,  and  after- 
ward Bishop  of  Massachusetts),  William  Scollay, 
Esq.,  and  Abigail  Howard,  widow,  all  of  Boston,  ex- 
ecutors of  the  will  of  Stephen  Greenleaf,  sold  the  lat- 
ter's  estate  on  Common  Street  to  Henry  Jackson. 
There  were  at  least  three  persons  of  this  name  hailing 
from  Boston  in  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. The  purchaser  of  the  land  above  mentioned 
was  General  Henry  Jackson  (1747-1809),  a  distin- 
guished soldier  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  a  son  of 
Colonel  Joseph  Jackson,  commander  of  the  Ancient 
and  Honorable  Artillery  Company,  and  Susannah 
Gray  Jackson.  General  Henry  Jackson  commanded 
the  Independent  Company  of  Cadets,  1776-1778,  and 

135 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

recruited  the  so-called  Boston  Regiment,  "which  at 
once  took  high  rank  for  its  soldier-like  appearance, 
and  excellent  discipline.  This  regiment  demonstrated 
its  valor  on  several  hard-fought  battle-fields." 

He  was  made  a  Brigadier-General  after  the  Revo- 
lution, and  was  also  Major-General  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Militia  from  1792  to  1796.  General  Jackson 
was  the  first  Treasurer  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincin- 
nati, and  a  man  of  wit  and  gallantry.  He  was  gen- 
tlemanly in  manners,  and  eminently  social  in  disposi- 
tion. At  the  end  of  the  war  he  engaged  in  mercan- 
tile pursuits,  and  bought  considerable  land  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  Town. 


John  Coffin  Jones 

GENERAL  HENRY  JACKSON  retained  pos- 
session of  "Greenleaf's  Gardens"  for  a  little 
more  than  two  years,  and  transferred  the  property 
July  28,  1798,  to  John  Coffin  Jones  and  Joseph  Rus- 
sell, the  latter  well-known  as  an  auctioneer,  in  trust 
for  Hepzibah  Swan,  wife  of  James  Swan,  of  Dor- 
chester. 

John  Coffin  Jones  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in 
1768  and  became  a  prosperous  merchant,  whose  resi- 

136 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


dence  was  on  Hanover  Street.  He  was  one  of  the 
incorporators  of  the  Canal  Bridge  Company,  under 
whose  supervision  Craigie's  Bridge  was  built  in  1809. 
He  was  the  owner  of  a  pew  in  King's  Chapel,  and  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Charitable 
Mechanic  Association.  Mr.  Jones  was  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  first  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Boston 
Dispensary  in  1796,  and  a  loyal  friend  of  that  Insti- 
tution. 

The  following  Notice  appeared  in  a  Boston  news- 
paper Monday,  May  22,  1786: 

"Married;  on  Thursday,  nth  inst,  at  Newport, 
John  Coffin  Jones  Esq.  of  this  town,  Merchant,  to  the 
truly  amiable  and  accomplished  Miss  Abigail  Grant, 
Daughter  of  the  late  Alexander  Grant  Esq.,  a  Lady 
of  real  merit,  and  highly  qualified  to  render  the  con- 
nubial state  desirable  and  supremely  happy." 

James  Swan 

JAMES  SWAN,  a  native  of  Fifeshire,  Scotland, 
came  to  Boston  when  quite  young,  and  found  em- 
ployment as  a  clerk  in  a  counting-room  on  one  of  the 
wharves;  living  meanwhile  at  a  boarding-house  on 

Hanover  Street.    He  soon  became  known  as  an  ad- 

i 

vocate  of  the  oppressed,  a  pleader  for  human  free- 

137 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

dom,  and  a  determined  opponent  of  the  slave  trade. 

He  was  one  of  the  famous  Boston  Tea-Party  of  De- 
cember 1 6,  1773,  whose  members  were  disguised  as 
Mohawk  Indians.  The  personnel  of  this  company 
was  kept  secret,  but  many  years  later  Mr.  Swan  re- 
counted the  particulars  of  their  doings  on  that  mo- 
mentous occasion,  to  Mr.  Thomas  C.  Amory  of  Bos- 
ton, whom  he  met  in  1830  at  Paris,  France.  He  told 
how  they  stove  in  the  tea-chests  and  tumbled  them 
into  the  waters  of  the  harbor  from  on  board  the  three 
British  vessels.  Then,  "returning  late  to  their  abodes, 
they  groped  their  way  silently  to  bed.  And  when 
the  next  morning  they  arose  as  usual  before  day- 
break, their  shoes  contained  a  liberal  quantity  of  the 
obnoxious  herb;  and  at  the  breakfast-table  smooches 
on  their  countenances  were  still  visible."1 

Quiet  reigned  throughout  the  Town  during  that 
eventful  evening,  but  there  were  merry  hearts  among 
the  patriots. 

James  Swan  was  with  General  Joseph  Warren  at 
the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  received  a  wound  in 
the  side.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  War  of 
Massachusetts  in  1777,  and  later  became  Adjutant- 
General.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  he  held  the 
rank  of  major  in  a  cavalry  corps.  At  about  this 

1Mass.  Historical  Society's  Proceedings.     December  1873. 

138 


THE    CARTER   LOT 


time  he  married  Hepzibah  Clarke,  heiress  of  a  large 
estate,  and  soon  after  went  to  France,  where  he  ac- 
cumulated a  considerable  fortune.  Returning  to 
Massachusetts,  he  invested  extensively  in  landed 
property,  and  bought  a  fine  country  place  in  Dorches- 
ter. In  1798  he  was  occupying  the  mansion  on  Com- 
mon Street,  Boston,  which  had  been  acquired  by  his 
wife  that  same  year.  This  property  was  held  in  trust 
for  him,  and  formed  a  part  of  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able estates  in  the  Town  at  that  period,  being  ap- 
praised at  $15,000.  Turn-again  Alley  (now  Temple 
Place),  which  was  then  a  cul-de-sac,  served  as  a 
drive-way  to  the  mansion-house.  In  a  water-color  of 
the  year  1800,  a  brick  wall  is  shown  surrounding  the 
estate,  with  a  gate-way  on  Common  Street. 

Mr.  Swan  soon  revisited  France,  and  again  en- 
gaged in  business  ventures,  which  proved  unprofita- 
ble. Through  the  dishonesty  of  his  partners,  and 
not  on  account  of  any  fault  of  his  own,  he  became  in- 
volved in  financial  difficulties,  and  was  confined  in 
the  Debtor's  Prison  at  Paris,  where  he  remained  for 
twenty- two  years,  preferring  to  endure  captivity  un- 
justly rather  than  yield  his  principle.  For  his  for- 
tune was  ample  enough  to  have  secured  his  release. 
The  Revolution  of  1830  threw  open  the  prison  doors, 
but  Mr.  Swan  did  not  long  survive  his  freedom. 

139 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

In  personal  appearance,  he  is  said  to  have  resembled 
Benjamin  Franklin.1 

The  Boston  Gazette,  March  13,  1772,  contained  the 
prospectus  of  a  volume  entitled:  "A  Dissuasive  to 
Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies  from  the  Slave  Trade 
to  Africa,"  by  James  Swan  (then  a  youth  of  eighteen), 
a  friend  to  the  welfare  of  the  Continent  of  America. 
"To  be  published  by  subscription;  one  pistareen  for 
each  book."  In  1780  Mr.  Swan  bought  a  fine  estate 
on  Dudley  Street  in  Dorchester,  and  entertained  lav- 
ishly during  his  brief  residence  there.  Many  years 
after,  in  1825,  while  her  husband  was  in  the  debtor's 
prison  at  Paris,  Madam  Swan  received  General  La 
Fayette  at  the  Dorchester  mansion.  On  this  occa- 
sion she  wore  "a  black  silk  gown,  and  a  turban  of 
black  lace;  her  dress,  even  to  the  huge  ruff,  being 
Elizabethan  in  style."  William  Dana  Orcutt,  in 
Good  Old  Dorchester,  gives  a  description  of  the  Swan 
mansion,  which  was  palatial  in  its  appointments. 
Magnificent  paintings  there  were,  and  costly  family 
plate,  said  to  have  been  stored  in  Colonel  Swan's  ships 
during  the  Reign  of  Terror.  The  tapestries  and  other 
rich  furnishings  were  said  to  have  formerly  adorned 
the  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  and  to  have  been  pur- 
chased by  Mrs.  Swan  during  her  residence  abroad. 

1  William  Dana  Orcutt.    Good  old  Dorchester. 

I4O 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


One  apartment  in  the  mansion  was  known  as  the 
"Marie  Antoinette  Room." 

On  June  13,  1810,  Mrs.  Hepzibah  C.  Swan  sold  the 
fine  old  estate  on  Common  Street  to  Harrison  Gray 
Otis,  a  distinguished  citizen,  lawyer  and  orator  of 
Boston.  And  the  latter  conveyed  it,  November  24, 
1813,  to  William  Sullivan,  a  son  of  Governor  James 
Sullivan.  He  too  was  a  worthy  member  of  the  legal 
fraternity,  a  scholar  and  staunch  Federalist. 

Washington  Gardens 

I"  N  the  year  1815  the  former  Swan  estate  was  leased 
•*•  to  John  H.  Shaffer,  and  under  the  name  of  the 
Washington  Gardens  became  a  popular  resort  for 
recreation  and  entertainment  in  summer.  Concerts 
were  given  there  twice  a  week.  We  quote  from  the 
Columbian  Centinel,  July  8,  1815 :  "The  Washington 
Gardens,  near  the  Mall,  have  been  numerously  and 
fashionably  resorted  to,  and  all  the  arrangements 
found  neat,  elegant  and  orderly.  The  music  has  been 
excellent;  the  old  favorites  of  the  Town  are  nightly 
engaged  in  augmenting  former  gratification.  .  .  . 
This  rural  retreat  in  the  center  of  a  populous  Town 
affords  an  easy,  rational  and  innocent  recreation  these 
fine  summer  evenings;  having  been  visited  and  pat- 

141 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

ronized  by  some  of  our  most  respectable  families  and 
characters,  and  the  decorum  highly  approved." 

The  Washington  Gardens  extended  about  300  feet 
on  Tremont  Street,  and  along  West  Street  to  the  line 
of  Mason  Street.  An  amphitheater,  afterwards  known 
as  the  City  Theatre,  was  built  there  in  1819.  An  ad- 
vertisement in  the  Boston  Commercial  Gazette,  July 
19  of  that  year,  announced  that  the  manager  had  em- 
bellished a  part  of  the  Circle  with  elegant  settees, 
which  were  designed  to  "accommodate  a  proportion 
of  respectable  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  who  may  pre- 
fer them  to  the  first  Boxes."  Seats  were  also  parti- 
tioned off  for  "People  of  Colour"  at  50  cents  each. 
The  performances  included  Various  Sports  of  the 
Ring,  with  trained  horses,  acrobats,  clowns,  ballet  and 
spectacular  features.  These  entertainments  seem  to 
have  been  designed  to  afford  diversion  for  the  towns- 
people, without  unduly  taxing  their  intellectual  fac- 
ulties. 

The  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  in  its  issue  of  Sep- 
tember 13,  1819,  had  this  announcement: 

"Washington  Gardens.  The  Public  are  respect- 
fully informed  that  his  Excellency  the  Governor  and 
Suite  intend  honoring  the  Circus  this  evening;  in  con- 
sequence of  which  no  pains  will  be  spared  on  the 
part  of  the  Managers  to  render  the  evening's  amuse- 
ments particularly  brilliant  and  splendid." 

142 


THE    CARTER   LOT 


John  H.  Shaffer,  the  lessee,  first  received  an  Inn- 
holder's  license  in  July,  1814.  And  in  February, 
1820,  the  Selectmen  gave  him  permission  to  produce 
Stage  Plays,  interludes  and  other  theatrical  enter- 
tainments "for  profit,  gain  or  Valuable  Considera- 
tion" at  his  amphitheater  near  the  Mall  in  the  South 
End  of  Boston.  Mr.  Shaffer  was  a  predecessor  of 
Lorenzo  Papanti  as  a  teacher  of  dancing  and  deport- 
ment, and  his  restaurant  was  also  a  popular  rendez- 
vous of  the  fashionable  young  men  of  the  period. 

Competition  was  keen  at  that  time  among  rival 
stage-lines  on  the  route  between  Boston  and  Provi- 
dence, and  finally  one  Company  announced  that  it 
would  carry  passengers  free  and  give  them  a  good 
dinner  at  the  end  of  the  journey.  The  other  Com- 
pany was  not  to  be  out-done,  and  offered  similar  in- 
ducements, plus  a  bottle  of  wine  for  each  patron. 
Shaffer  decided  to  accept  this  proposition  and  spent 
a  week  in  riding  to  and  fro  between  the  cities,  thereby 
acquiring  a  reputation  for  gaiety  and  shrewdness.1 

During  the  winter  season  of  1819-20  the  old  Usher 
mansion  was  used  as  a  hostelry,  and  became  a  center 
of  sociability  and  good  cheer.  In  the  meantime  Saint 
Paul's  Church  was  being  constructed,  and  Mr.  Shaffer 

1  Alice  Morse  Earle.    The  Customs  and  Fashions  of  New  Eng- 
land. 

143 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

built  a  workshop  on  the  grounds  of  the  Washington 
Gardens,  and  leased  it  to  Solomon  Willard,  the  archi- 
tect of  the  building.  The  Usher  house,  which  had 
been  built  in  the  year  1684,  was  taken  down  in  I83O.1 


Saint  Paul's  Church 

THE  Commercial  Gazette  of  September  9,  1819, 
contains  an  account  of  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone of  Saint  Paul's  Church,  which  overlooked  the 
Washington  Gardens  on  the  north. 

On  June  25,  1819,  William  Sullivan  conveyed  to 
William  Shimmin  and  George  Sullivan  a  piece  of 
land,  211  feet  deep  and  10  feet  wide,  beginning  at  the 
dividing  point  on  Common  Street,  between  the  estate 
formerly  belonging  to  Stephen  Greenleaf,  Esq.,  known 
as  the  Washington  Gardens,  and  the  estate  lately 
owned  by  John  Osborn,  Esq.,  "whereon  an  Episcopal 
Church  is  about  to  be  erected,"  saving  and  excepting 
whatsoever  right  John  H.  Shaffer  may  have,  in  vir- 
tue of  a  Lease  for  ten  years  from  the  first  day  of  May, 
1819.  .  .  . 

The  final  transfer  whereby  the  Proprietors  of  Saint 
Paul's  Church  acquired  the  present  Cathedral  Site, 
1  Walter  K.  Watkins :    An  Historic  Corner. 

144 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


was  dated  November  27,  1820.  At  that  time  Wil- 
liam Shimmin  and  David  Sears,  Esquires,  sold  to  the 
said  Proprietors  three  parcels  of  land  which  had  been 
separately  acquired  by  them  within  a  few  months  pre- 
viously from  the  several  owners  thereof. 

When  Saint  Paul's  Church  was  erected,  its  neigh- 
borhood was  wholly  residential,  and  still  somewhat 
rural  in  character.  The  location  of  those  grass- 
grown  lanes  of  early  Colonial  days,  Tremont,  Win- 
ter, Washington  and  West  Streets,  which  bound  the 
now  densely  built  up  Square,  has  never  been  changed. 
But  how  great  the  contrast  in  their  use  and  appear- 
ance then  and  now!  During  business  hours  on  fine 
week-days,  the  crowds  and  congested  traffic  in  these 
thoroughfares  present  a  scene  of  bustle  and  activity 
hardly  to  be  paralleled  elsewhere.  The  early  settler 
may  have  had  to  turn  aside  to  avoid  an  occasional 
cow  on  its  way  to  or  from  the  grazing-ground  on  the 
Common.  But  the  modern  Bostonian  must  be  ever 
watchful,  and  exercise  both  physical  agility  and  men- 
tal alertness  in  avoiding  the  throng  of  automobiles, 
trucks  and  other  vehicles  which  are  a  source  of  dan- 
ger to  pedestrians.  The  subways  have  indeed  helped 
to  relieve  congestion  somewhat,  and  the  crossways 
policemen  are  useful  as  pilots,  and  render  valuable 
assistance  to  bewildered  wayfarers. 

145 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

When  Saint  Paul's  was  opened  for  Divine  Service 
in  1820,  Boston  was  still  under  the  town  form  of  gov- 
ernment, though  soon  to  become  a  city.  Its  popu- 
lation was  about  forty-three  thousand,  or  approxi- 
mately one-sixteenth  of  the  population  of  1912.  Be- 
sides eight  Selectmen  and  a  like  number  of  members 
of  the  School-Committee,  the  list  of  Town  officials 
included  a  Board  of  six  Hay-wards  or  Hog-reeves, 
nineteen  Surveyors  of  Boards  and  Lumber,  thirteen 
Cullers  of  Dry  Fish,  five  Cullers  of  Hoops  and  Staves, 
one  Town  Crier,  one  Pound-keeper  and  twenty  Con- 
stables. There  was  also  a  Board  of  Fire-wards,  con- 
sisting of  thirty-two  members,  and  fourteen  fire-en- 
gine Companies  with  a  membership  of  three  hundred 
and  sixteen  men.  Railways  were  not  yet  in  opera- 
tion, and  stage-coaches  were  the  chief  means  of  trans- 
portation for  travelers.  There  were  no  less  than 
forty-one  different  stage-routes  from  Boston  to  vari- 
ous points  in  New  England,  and  to  Albany  and  New 
York. 

Visitors  from  abroad  oftentimes  fail  to  appreciate 
the  charm  of  Boston's  winding  ways ;  and  some  have 
shown  ingenuity  in  attempting  to  account  for  their 
origin. 

Conventions  of  cows,  wrote  one  observer,  were 
daily  held  within  the  now  sacred  precincts  of  the  Com- 

146 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


mon,  and  the  desultory  roamirigs  of  these  animals 
were  popularly  believed  to  have  determined  the  swerv- 
ing lines  of  some  of  the  town's  highways.1 

Why,  for  example,  should  Winter  Street,  after  run- 
ning northerly,  58^2  degrees  west,  for  128  feet,  have 
formerly  inclined  abruptly  1^4  degrees  further  to  the 
west?2  .  .  . 

"Look  here!"  cried  the  author  of  the  One  Hoss 
Shay,  soon  after  the  electric  cars  appeared  in  the 
Hub's  thoroughfares;  "there  are  crowds  of  people 
whirled  through  our  streets  on  these  new-fashioned 
cars,  with  their  witch  broomsticks  overhead — if  they 
don't  come  from  Salem,  they  ought  to — and  not  one 
in  a  dozen  of  these  fish-eyed  bipeds  thinks  or  cares  a 
nickel's  worth  about  the  miracle  which  is  being 
wrought  for  their  convenience !" 

The  Masonic  Temple 

A  PORTION  of  the  Washington  Gardens,  name- 
•*  *•  ly,  the  lot  on  the  north  side  of  Turn-again 
Alley,  now  Temple  Place,  and  Common  or  Tremont 
Street,  was  sold  by  William  Sullivan,  March  30,  1825, 

1  Thomas  F.  Anderson.  The  New  England  Magazine.  Febru- 
ary, 1908. 

1  Official  Maps  of  the  Street-lines  of  Boston.  By  John  G.  Hales. 
1819. 

147 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

to  the  Master,  Wardens  and  members  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Freemasons  of  Massachusetts.  After  sev- 
eral years  the  latter  began  the  erecfion  of  a  Masonic 
Temple  on  this  site ;  the  corner-stone  being  laid  Octo- 
ber 14,  1830.  More  than  two  thousand  members  of 
the  Fraternity,  carrying  banners  and  other  emblems 
of  their  Order,  marched  from  Faneuil  Hall  to  the  site 
of  the  new  building,  where  the  ceremony  took  place 
amid  the  rejoicing  of  the  friends  of  Masonry,  and  the 
satire  and  ridicule  of  its  enemies.  Some  of  the  latter 
were  stationed  at  street  corners,  to  give  expression  to 
their  disapproval.  But,  in  the  words  of  an  eloquent 
orator,  "the  exalted  character  of  the  men  who  formed 
that  procession,  together  with  a  just  public  sentiment, 
restrained  and  overawed  the  revilers,  and  they  re- 
treated before  the  indignant  gaze  of  outraged  pro- 
priety."1 The  editor  of  the  Boston  Evening  Tran- 
script, then  newly  founded,  wrote  in  reference  to  this 
event,  that  almost  impenetrable  crowds  of  delighted 
citizens  hovered  around  the  members  of  the  Frater- 
nity, in  silence  and  stillness,  as  if  determined  to  cheer 
and  uphold  them.  And  "the  croaking  raven  of  po- 
litical discord  was  hushed/'  At  that  time  the  Ma- 
sonic organizations  were  viewed  with  prejudice  by 

1  Address  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Case,  Grand  Chaplain  of  the  Grand 
Royal  Arch  Chapter  of  Massachusetts,  November  n,  1846. 

148 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


many,  and  the  Fraternity  was  enduring  the  violent 
and  unmerited  attacks  of  public  opinion.  The  new 
edifice  was  dedicated  May  30,  1832;  and  after  the 
formal  exercises  the  members  of  the  Boston  Encamp- 
ment of  Knights  Templars  assembled  in  Concert  Hall, 
where  a  sumptuous  banquet  was  provided.  The  tables 
groaned  beneath  the  rarities  of  the  season.  Toasts, 
songs  and  jests  passed  merrily  around,  and  harmony 
and  good  fellowship  prevailed. 

The  Masonic  Temple  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
chief  architectural  ornaments  of  the  City.  It  had 
two  lofty  Gothic  towers,  of  granite,  16  feet  square, 
with  battlements,  surmounted  by  pinnacles. 

On  September  25,  1857,  the  Temple  was  sold  for 
$105,000  to  the  Federal  Government,  and  became  the 
United  States  Court  House.  Its  site  is  now  occupied 
by  the  new  building  of  the  well-known  firm  of  R.  H. 
Stearns  and  Company,  which  was  founded  in  I847.1 

Recreation  Facilities 

BESIDES  the  Washington  Gardens,  the  citizens 
of  Boston  appear  to  have  been  fairly  well  pro- 
vided with  means  of  recreation  at  this  period.     In 

1  This  account  of  the  Washington  Gardens  estate  was  written 
before  the  publication  of  Mr.  W.  K.  Watkin's  Chapter  entitled 
"An  Historic  Corner,"  in  Days  and  Ways  in  Old  Boston,  1915. 

149 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

1813  John  Roulstone,  who  had  been  a  stablekeeper  in 
Essex  Street,  became  the  proprietor  of  a  circus  or 
riding-school  in  Haymarket  Place,  and  this  estab- 
lishment was  maintained  by  him  for  several  years. 
The  Columbian  Centinel  of  April  twelfth,  1820,  an- 
nounced that  Mr.  Roulstone  was  balancing  between 
remaining  in  Boston  and  migrating  to  the  South.  "Let 
us  detain  him,"  pleaded  the  writer,  "by  sufficient  pat- 
ronage ;  there  is  hardly  a  physician  in  town,  whom  we 
could  not  better  spare  than  Doctor  Roulstone.  For 
if  one  physician  goes,  others  remain ;  but  we  have  but 
one  master  of  the  circus.  The  former  may  conduct 
us  through  disease  to  health ;  but  the  latter,  by  forti- 
fying the  system,  prevents  or  counteracts  the  causes 
of  disease.  The  satisfaction,  the  advantage  and  the 
security  of  riding  on  horseback,  a  noble  exercise,  are 
all  greatly  improved  and  increased  by  a  few  lessons 
in  the  circus." 

About  a  month  after  the  appearance  of  the  above 
notice,  there  arrived  in  town  a  Grand  Caravan  of  liv- 
ing animals,  which  were  exhibited  in  a  building  adja- 
cent to  the  Hancock  house  on  Beacon  Hill.  As  an 
additional  attraction  the  proprietor  announced  that 
there  would  be  "a  first-rate  performance  on  the  sym- 
phonia,  or  ancient  Jewish  Cymbal." 

In  July,  1797,  public  notice  was  given  that  a  trained 


THE   CARTER   LOT 


elephant  would  shortly  be  exhibited  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Boston.  According  to  the  opinion  of  the  cel- 
ebrated French  naturalist,  Count  de  Buifon,  the  ele- 
phant was  declared  to  be  the  most  respectable  animal 
in  the  world.  "In  size,"  the  notice  read,  "he  sur- 
passes all  other  terrestrial  creatures,  and  by  his  intel- 
ligence he  makes  as  near  approach  to  man,  as  matter 
can  approach  to  spirit.  .  .  .  This  most  curious  and 
surprising  animal  is  on  his  way  to  this  town,  and  will 
be  exhibited  at  Cambridge  on  the  day  of  Commence- 
ment. He  eats  thirty  pounds'  weight  a  day,  and  drinks 
all  kinds  of  spirituous  liquors.  Some  days  he  has 
drunk  thirty  bottles  of  porter,  drawing  the  corks  with 
his  trunk." 

The  Columbian  Centinel,  September  21,  1799,  un- 
der the  heading,  "CURIOUS  DISCOVERY,"  had 
the  following  Notice : 

"Numerous  applications  have  been  made  by  re- 
spectable Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  to  see  a  phenomenon, 
which  in  the  opinion  of  naturalists,  and  from  their 
account,  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  which  has 
yet  been  exhibited  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  the  pub- 
lic. A  BIRD  is  living  with  a  RATTLESNAKE  on 
the  most  amicable  terms,  and  they  appear  to  have  for 
each  other  a  kind  of  friendship,  though  the  Snake  will 
swallow  or  destroy  every  other  bird  which  is  pre- 
sented to  him.  Its  length  is  about  four  and  a  half 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

feet,  and  about  five  inches  in  circumference;  is  of  a 
beautiful  yellow,  dark  green,  brown  and  black  color. 
.  .  .  Children  may  view  it  with  safety,  being  con- 
fined in  a  strong  wire  cage. 

"It  may  be  seen  at  Mr.  Delisle's,  opposite  the  Mall, 
near  the  Haymarket  Theatre. 

"Admission,  1/6." 

There  were  several  bathing  establishments  in  Bos- 
ton in  1820.  Two  of  these  were  alongside  the  Canal 
Bridge,  now  known  as  Craigie's  Bridge,  which  dates 
from  1807.  Erastus  Farnum,  the  proprietor  of  one 
of  them,  advertised  that  ladies  and  gentlemen  could 
be  accommodated  with  cold  or  warm  baths  at  their 
option,  from  an  hour  before  sunrise  until  eleven 
o'clock  at  night.  For  those  who  could  not  swim,  an 
opportunity  was  afforded  to  indulge  in  the  healthy 
and  pleasant  recreation  of  the  sea-water  bath  with 
perfect  safety.  Patrons  were  assured  that  no  es- 
tablishment of  a  similar  nature  in  the  United  States 
afforded  advantages  comparable  with  that  of  Mr. 
Farnum.  Another  bathhouse,  very  near  the  preced- 
ing, was  kept  by  Jonas  Tyler,  who  solicited  the  pat- 
ronage of  all  respectable,  orderly  and  well-behaved 
persons.  And  inasmuch  as  other  institutions  of  like 
nature  had  been  visited  by  inconsiderate  and  disor- 
derly characters,  he  ventured  to  "tenderly  admon- 

152 


THE    CARTER   LOT 


ish"  any  such  that  admission  would  not  be  granted 
them.  .  .  . 

Even  at  this  time,  complaints  were  heard  about 
the  high  cost  of  some  of  the  staple  commodities.  A 
correspondent  of  the  Centinel,  who  wrote  over  the 
signature,  a  Lover  of  Milk,  thus  queries:  "How 
comes  it  that  the  important  article  of  milk  should  now 
hold  the  same  price  which  it  did  when  butter  sold  at 
thirty  cents  a  pound?  Conversing  with  my  Milk- 
man, he  owned  that  it  ought  to  be  put  down  to  five 
cents.  Who  are  to  blame  for  the  extravagant  price 
now  given  for  this  necessary  of  life,  the  Milk-sellers 
or  the  Milk-buyers?"  This  question  appears  to  have 
remained  unanswered,  but  the  price  of  milk  was  soon 
after  reduced  to  five  cents  a  quart. 


153 


THE    LEVERETT   LOT 


THE   LEVERETT   LOT 

Leverett's  Pasture 

IN  the  earliest  Colonial  times,  the  lot  of  land  on  the 
southerly  corner  of  Tremont  and  Winter  Streets, 
adjoining  the  present  Cathedral  property,  was  occu- 
pied by  Robert  Walker,  who  was  an  original  member 
of  the  First  Church  in  Boston,  and  also  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Old  South  Church  in  1669.  In  h*8 
youth  he  followed  the  trade  of  a  "linen-webster"  or 
weaver,  in  Manchester,  England.  According  to  the 
Boston  Town  Records,  March  25,  1639,  it  was  "agreed 
that  our  brother,  Robert  Walker  shall  be  the  Cow- 
keep  for  this  yeare ;  and  to  have  for  every  cow  going 
on  the  Necke  until  the  first  of  the  nynth  moneth  a 
bushell  of  corne  at  Harvest,  and  a  pecke  of  corne  for 
every  calf  put  to  his  keeping."  .  .  .  He  had  a  house 
and  garden  on  the  north-west  corner  of  Tremont  and 
Boylston  Streets,  the  present  site  of  one  of  the  sub- 
way buildings  on  the  Common.  In  Judge  Sewall's 
Diary  (I,  179)  Robert  Walker  is  described  as  "a  very 
good  man,  and  conversant  among  God's  New  England 
people  from  the  beginning." 

157 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

No  deeds  were  recorded  during  the  "infancy  of 
the  Plantations,"  the  titles  of  real  estate  resting  solely 
upon  verbal  or  written  contracts.  Probably  as  early 
as  the  year  1650,  this  corner  lot  became  the  property 
of  John  Leverett  (as  appears  from  the  Book  of  Pos- 
sessions) and  was  then  known  as  "Leverett's  Pas- 
ture." His  residence  was  on  the  site  of  the  Sears 
Building.  John  Leverett  served  in  Oliver  Cromwell's 
army  in  1656,  and  was  for  ten  years  Major  General 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  and  Governor  from 
1673  to  1678.  He  was  said  to  have  been  created  a 
knight  by  Charles  II  in  1676,  but  proof  of  this  is  lack- 
ing. Governor  Leverett's  epitaph  which  was  in- 
scribed on  a  stone  (now  missing)  in  King's  Chapel 
Burying  Ground,  Boston,  read  as  follows: 

"N.  E.'s  Heroe;  Mars  His  General;  Vertue's 
Standard  Bearer  and  Learning's  Glory;  Ye  Faith- 
fully Pious  and  Piously  Faithful;  Subject  to  the  Great 
Majesty  of  Heaven  and  Earth;  Ye  Experienced 
Souldier  in  Ye  Church  Militant;  Lately  Listed  in  Ye 
Invincible  Triumphant  Army  of  Ye  Lord  of  Hosts; 
Ye  Deservedly  Worshipful  John  Leverett  Esq.;  Ye 
Just,  Prudent  and  Impartial  Governor  of  Ye  Matta- 
chusetts  Colony  in  N.  E. ;  who  surrendered  to  the  All 
Conquering  Command  of  Death,  March  16,  Anno 
Dom:  167!." 

158 


THE   LEVERETT   LOT 


In  the  year  1664  Governor  Leverett  sold  the  south- 
ern part  of  his  pasture  to  Robert  Wyard,  as  previ- 
ously stated;  this  being  the  northerly  portion  of  the 
Cathedral  land.  The  corner  lot  had  a  frontage  of 
210  feet  on  Banister's  Lane,  the  present  Winter  Street, 
and  about  100  feet  on  Tremont  Street.1 

This  lot  next  became  by  inheritance  the  property 
of  the  Governor's  son,  Hudson  Leverett  (1640- 
1694).  He  was  Clerk  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
Artillery  Company  in  1663,  an<3  Crier  of  the  Court  at 
Quarter-sessions  in  June,  1687.  But  his  name  does 
not  appear  in  the  Colonial  Records  in  connection  with 
any  notable  achievement,  "a  fact  which  appears  al- 
most invariably  to  characterize  the  sons  of  very  cele- 
brated men."2 

His  son,  John,  became  the  eighth  President  of  Har- 
vard College.  In  1664  Hudson  Leverett  and  Sarah 
his  wife  mortgaged  the  property  to  Simon  Lynde,  of 
Boston,  merchant. 

Simon  Lynde 

SIMON  LYNDE  (1624-1687),  a  native  of  Lon- 
don, England,  was  apprenticed  to  a  merchant  there 
at  an  early  age,  and  afterwards  engaged  in  mercan- 

1  See  the  Fifth  Report  of  the  Record  Commissioners  of  Boston, 


1880. 
*The  Leverett  Memorial. 


159 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

tile  pursuits  in  Holland.  Coming  to  New  England 
in  1659,  ne  nrst  lived  near  the  Town  Dock,  and  later 
became  a  resident  of  the  West  End  of  Boston,  where 
a  street  now  bears  his  name.  He  married,  February 
22,  1652,  Hannah,  a  daughter  of  John  Newgate,  mer- 
chant, of  Boston.  Simon  Lynde  was  appointed  Con- 
stable in  1659,  and  was  first  sergeant  in  the  Artillery 
Company.  He  also  served  as  a  member  of  Captain 
James  Oliver's  Company  in  Philip's  War.  In  1686 
he  received  a  commission  as  one  of  His  Majesty's 
Justices  of  the  Peace.  Returning  to  England,  he  en- 
gaged in  land  speculation  there. 

For  about  thirty  years  he  was  a  prominent  citizen 
of  Massachusetts. 

The  mortgage  to  Simon  Lynde  was  discharged  in 
1669,  and  on  October  7  of  that  year,  Hudson  Leverett 
mortgaged  the  property  to  John  Hull,  of  Boston. 

John  Hull,  Mintmaster 

JOHN  HULL  (1624-1683)  was  a  prominent  gold- 
smith and  silversmith,  a  native  of  Leicestershire, 
England,  who  came  to  America  in  1635.  He  mar- 
ried Judith,  a  daughter  of  Edmund  Quincy,  Junior, 
whose  father,  the  emigrant,  was  the  ancestor  of  a  dis- 
tinguished family.  As  a  compliment  to  this  Boston 

160 


THE    LEVERETT    LOT 


lady,  a  head-land  on  the  west  side  of  the  entrance  to 
Narragansett  Bay,  R.  I.,  was  named  Point  Judith. 
This  picturesque  cape,  with  its  lighthouse,  is  a  con- 
spicuous landmark  from  afar.  To  the  patrons  of  the 
palatial  steamboats  of  the  Fall  River  Line,  its  name 
brings  up  visions  of  boisterous  seas  oftentimes  en- 
countered in  rounding  it. 

John  Hull  was  Captain  of  one  of  the  Boston  mili- 
tary companies  in  Philip's  War,  and  attained  the  same 
rank  in  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Com- 
pany. He  was  also  a  Selectman  of  Boston  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Old  South 
Church.  Probably  on  account  of  his  skill  as  an  ar- 
tisan, Captain  Hull  was  appointed  mintmaster  of  the 
Colony  by  the  General  Court  in  1652.  The  mint  was 
set  up  in  his  own  house  in  Sheafe  Street.  He  it  was 
who  coined  the  first  silver  money  in  New  England,  the 
famous  pine-tree  shillings.  He  made  a  very  advan- 
tageous contract  with  the  authorities,  being  entitled 
to  one  shilling  out  of  every  twenty  coined.  When 
his  daughter  Hannah  married  Judge  Samuel  Sewall, 
she  was  said  to  have  received  from  her  father,  as  a 
dowry,  a  quantity  of  these  silver  pieces,  whose  weight 
was  equal  to  her  own ;  and  the  amount  must  have  been 
considerable,  if  we  may  believe  Hawthorne's  imagina- 
tive account  of  the  wedding,  in  his  "Grandfather's 

161 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

Chair."  Judith  Hull  is  there  represented  as  a  buxom 
and  robust  damsel,  who  had  always  fed  heartily  on 
pumpkin  pies,  doughnuts,  Indian  puddings  and  other 
Puritan  dainties,  and  who  was  herself  as  round  and 
plump  as  a  pudding.  On  the  wedding  day,  says  the 
same  writer,  we  may  suppose  that  John  Hull  dressed 
himself  in  a  plum-colored  suit,  whereof  all  the  but- 
tons were  pine-tree  shillings.  The  buttons  of  his 
waistcoat  were  sixpences,  and  the  knees  of  his  small- 
clothes were  buttoned  with  silver  threepences. 

Before  the  establishment  of  a  mint,  the  gold  and 
silver  pieces  of  foreign  nations  were  current.  But  the 
colonists  were  often  obliged  to  traffic  by  exchanging 
one  commodity  for  another.  Also  in  place  of  far- 
things they  sometimes  used  small  bullets,  and  instead 
of  specie  they  employed  wampum  after  the  manner 
of  the  Indians.  Four  small  beads,  made  of  clam- 
shells, and  strung  together,  were  equivalent  to  a  penny. 
Therefore,  the  colonists  must  have  welcomed  a  coin- 
age of  their  own,  and  John  Hull  became  a  rich  man. 

Apropos  of  the  Indian  money  current  in  New  Eng- 
land during  this  period,  the  name  wampum  was  given 
to  strings  of  beads  made  from  the  stems  or  inner 
whorls  of  certain  sea-snail  shells  or  whelks,  which  are 
still  abundant  along  the  coast.  Wampum  became  a 
universal  medium  of  exchange  and  judgments  of  the 

162 


THE   LEVERETT   LOT 


courts  were  made  payable  in  shell  money.  The  In- 
dians strung  the  beads  on  fibers  of  hemp,  or  on  ten- 
dons taken  from  the  flesh  of  their  "forest  meat." 
More  than  ten  thousand  beads  were  sometimes 
wrought  into  a  single  wampum-belt.  Wampum  was 
the  Indian  word  for  white,  and  the  beads  were  com- 
monly of  that  color.  Black  beads  were  also  current, 
however,  and  were  made  from  portions  of  the  shell 
of  the  quahog  or  cohog. 

John  Hull  was  the  owner  of  a  large  estate  at  Muddy 
River,  now  Brookline,  consisting  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty  acres,  which  included  a  large  part  of  what 
is  now  Longwood.  The  site  of  his  former  house  is 
near  the  Sears  Church.  This  property  was  inherited 
by  Judge  Samuel  Sewall  and  his  wife.  It  has  since 
been  known  as  the  Sewall  Farm.  Captain  John  Hull 
is  said  to  have  designed  the  figure  of  an  Indian,  which 
appears  on  the  coat-of-arms  of  Massachusetts. 

Captain  Ephraim  Savage 

AMONG  the  subsequent  owners  of  Leverett's  pas- 
ture was  Ephraim  Savage  (1645-1730),  the  third 
son  of  Major  Thomas  and  Faith  Savage.    His  mother 
was  a  daughter  of  Anne  Hutchinson,  the  religious 
enthusiast  and  leader  of  the  Antinomians  in  New 

163 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

England.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  Class  of 
1662,  Captain  in  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery 
Company;  Selectman  and  Town  Clerk  for  many 
years,  and  also  served  in  Philip's  War.  The  General 
Court,  at  its  session,  May  5,  1676,  ordered  that  "Sar- 
jant  Ephrajm  Sauvage  doe  march  up  with  the  pro- 
vission  now  sent  and  take  the  comand  of  the  garri- 
son" at  Quahog  (now  Brookfield,  Mass.).  After- 
wards he  was  made  Ensign,  and  later  Captain  of  the 
Company  which  his  father  had  commanded. 

In  July,  1690,  he  was  commissioned  Captain  of  a 
Company  of  men  from  Reading  and  neighboring 
towns,  which  formed  a  part  of  the  forces  under  Gov- 
ernor Sir  William  Phipps  in  the  disastrous  expedition 
against  Quebec,  which  was  sent  out  by  Governor 
Thomas  Dudley.  One  of  the  Chaplains,  Rev.  John 
Wise,  referred  to  him  as  "an  honest  and  valiant 
Gent."  During  the  assault  upon  the  Citadel  Ephraim 
Savage  narrowly  escaped  capture.  His  vessel,  with 
sixty  men  aboard,  became  unmanageable  in  a  violent 
storm,  and  grounded  near  the  shore.  As  the  tide 
fell,  it  remained  immovable  upon  a  shoal.  The 
French  were  quick  to  perceive  his  plight,  and  directed 
a  sharp  fire  of  musketry  upon  the  vessel. 

The  situation  was  critical,  but  the  New-England- 
ers  made  a  strong  resistance,  and  returned  the  enemy's 

164 


THE   LEVERETT   LOT 


fusillade  with  vigor.  With  the  flood-tide  Sir  Wil- 
liam Phipps'  flag-ship  came  to  their  assistance;  the 
enemy  dispersed,  and  the  bark  floated  off  without 
material  injury.  In  the  summer  campaign  of  the 
year  1707  Captain  Savage  was  a  member  of  the  ex- 
pedition against  Port  Royal  in  Nova  Scotia;  where 
was  a  small  fort,  which  was  believed  to  be  a  rendez- 
vous of  pirates  and  headquarters  for  illicit  trading 
with  the  Indians.  Two  regiments  were  sent  from 
Boston  by  sea,  under  convoy  of  a  royal  man-of-war 
and  an  armed  vessel  belonging  to  Massachusetts.  The 
siege  of  Port  Royal  was  futile,  and  the  expedition 
returned  ingloriously.  .  .  . 

The  Boston  Fire  of  October,  1711,  which  de- 
stroyed a  large  part  of  the  business  section  of  the 
Town,  started  in  an  out>house  on  the  premises  of 
Captain  Savage.  A  poor  Scotch  woman  accidentally 
set  fire  to  some  oakum  and  other  combustible  ma- 
terial, and  the  result  was  an  historic  conflagration. 

Captain  Savage  was  then  living  in  a  narrow  street 
named  Savage's  Court,  doubtless  in  his  honor.  The 
present  title  of  Williams  Court  dates  from  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Its  popular,  colloquial 
name  is  "Pie  Alley,"  by  reason  of  the  number  of  cheap 
restaurants  in  that  locality.  From  City  Hall  Ave- 
nue it  leads  through  an  Archway  into  Washington 

"55 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Street,  where  it  emerges  between  Thompson's  Spa 
and  Gridley's  Coffee-House.  It  has  a  uniform 
breadth  of  eight  feet,  ten  inches.  The  sign  of  the 
Bell-in-Hand  Tavern,  with  the  date  1795,  was  still  to 
be  seen  by  the  wayfarer  in  Pie  Alley  as  late  as  1914. 

Captain  Savage  was  married  four  times.  On  the 
seventh  of  September,  1706,  he  conveyed  to  Paul  Dud- 
ley, Esq.,  the  younger,  of  Boston,  the  former  Leverett 
estate,  on  the  corner  of  Tremont  and  Winter  Streets. 
It  is  described  in  the  Deed  as  a  parcel  of  pasture  land 
lying  in  the  Common  or  Training  Field;  bounded 
northerly  with  the  land  called  Willis's  Lane ;  westerly 
with  the  Common;  southerly  by  land  of  Joshua 
Hughes;  and  easterly  by  the  house  and  land  "now  in 
the  possession  of  John  Hubbard."  The  lot  measured 
6 1  feet  along  the  present  Winter  Street,  and  100  feet 
along  the  eastern  border  of  the  Common,  now  Tre- 
mont Street. 

At  about  this  period  Boston  was  described  as  a 
prosperous,  thrifty,  country  town.  In  1720  an  Eng- 
lish traveler,  Daniel  Neal,  gave  his  impressions  of 
the  place.  He  found  Boston  conversation  as  polite 
as  in  most  English  cities  and  towns,  many  of  its  mer- 
chants having  the  advantage  of  a  free  intercourse 
with  travellers  from  abroad.  So  that  a  gentleman 
from  London  would  almost  think  himself  at  home  in 

166 


THE   LEVERETT    LOT 


Boston,  when  he  observed  the  number  of  people,  their 
houses  and  furniture,  their  tables,  dress  and  conver- 
sation, which  were  perhaps  "as  splendid  and  showy 
as  those  of  the  most  considerable  tradesmen  in  Lon- 
don." 

Chief  Justice  Paul  Dudley 

AUL  Dudley  (1675-1751)  was  the  fourth  son  of 
Joseph  Dudley,  Colonial  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  grandson  of  Governor  Thomas  Dudley. 

After  graduating  at  Harvard  in  1690,  he  went  to 
London,  where  he  studied  law  at  the  Temple.  When 
in  1702  his  father  received  from  Queen  Anne  a  com- 
mission as  Governor,  Paul  Dudley,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-seven,  became  Attorney-General  of  the  Prov- 
ince. This  office  he  held  until  1718,  when  he  was 
appointed  Associate  Justice  of  the  Superior  Court, 
and  afterwards  became  Chief  Justice.  He  was  a 
learned  naturalist  and  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society 
of  London.  As  a  Judge  he  had  the  reputation  of 
being  impartial;  "the  stern  enemy  of  vice;  of  quick 
apprehension,  extensive  knowledge  and  powerful  elo- 
quence." 

He  was  the  originator  of  the  annual  Dudleian  Lec- 
tures on  religious  subjects  at  Harvard  College.  The 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

old  mile-stones,  marked  "P.  D.,"  which  are  still  to 
be  seen  in  Roxbury,  are  enduring  reminders  of  his 
public-spiritedness. 

James  Williams,  Cooper 

T  N  the  year  1724  Paul  Dudley  sold  the  Leverett 
-•-  pasture  lot  and  a  dwelling-house  for  £220  to  James 
Williams  of  Boston,  a  cooper.  His  name  appears  in 
the  Town  Records,  August  thirty-first  of  that  year, 
when  it  was  ordered  that  "for  Town  Meetings  there 
be  Rong  Bells  but  at  three  meeting  houses ;  Namly  at 
the  Old  North,  at  the  Brick,  and  at  the  New  South  ;x 
and  that  Mr.  James  Williams  have  notis  of  it." 

James  Pitts,  Patriot 

T  N  1734  the  estate  fell  by  inheritance  to  James  Wil- 
liams, Junior,  a  mariner,  who  sold  a  portion  of  it 
in  1740  to  James  Pitts  (1712-1776),  of  Boston,  who 
was  a  Harvard  Graduate,  Class  of  1731.  He  became 
a  rich  merchant.  Mr.  Pitts  was  an  ardent  patriot  in 
the  years  immediately  before  the  Revolution.  His 
wife  was  a  daughter  of  the  Hon.  James  Bowdoin,  and 

1  The  New  Brick  Church  was  founded  in  1718  at  the  North  End. 
The  New  South  Church  dates  from  1715,  and  its  site  was  the  so- 
called  Church  Green,  in  Summer  Street. 

168 


THE   LEVERETT   LOT 


his  three  sons  were  zealous  supporters  of  the  Ameri- 
can Cause. 

James  Pitts  was  a  member  of  the  State  Council. 
His  residence  was  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  Howard 
Atheneum.  Pitts  Street,  which  extended  from  Green 
Street  to  the  Mill  Pond  in  1733,  was  named  Pitts 
Lane  by  the  Town  in  1788.  Since  1820  it  has  borne 
its  present  title. 

The  name  of  James  Pitts  appears  in  a  list  of  citi- 
zens of  Boston  who  kept  one  or  more  carriages  in  the 
year  1768.  And  in  the  inventory  of  his  estate  we 
find  mention  of  one  chariot,  one  old  chariot  on  "slay" 
runners,  one  four-wheeled  carriage,  a  sedan  and  a 
single-horse  chaise.  .  .  .  Coaches,  chariots,  chaises, 
calashes  and  chairs  were  the  pleasure  vehicles  com- 
monly used  at  this  period.  The  pioneer  hackney- 
coach  made  its  appearance  here  in  1712,  through  the 
enterprise  of  Jonathan  Wardell,  the  landlord  of  the 
Orange-Tree  Tavern,  on  Hanover  Street.  The 
chariot  of  the  eighteenth  century  had  little  resem- 
blance to  the  ancient  Roman  chariot.  The  former  sug- 
gested a  small  Court  or-  State  carriage,  with  a  coupe 
body  slung  upon  leathern  braces.  The  caleche  or 
calash  was  a  two-wheeled,  hooded  gig,  a  type  of  ve- 
hicle still  used  in  some  parts  of  Canada.  In  regard 

169 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

to  pleasure  vehicles  in  the  eighteenth  century,  we  quote 
from  an  Account  of  Boston  in  I74O.1 

"There  are  several  families  in  Boston  that  keep  a 
coach  and  pair  of  horses,  and  some  few  drive  with 
four  horses;  but  for  chaises  and  saddle-horses,  con- 
sidering the  bulk  of  the  place,  they  outdo  London. 
The  country  carts  and  wagons  are  generally  drawn 
by  oxen,  from  2  to  6  according  to  the  distance  of 
place,  or  burden  they  are  laden  with.  When  the  la- 
dies ride  out  to  take  the  air,  it  is  generally  in  a  chaise 
or  chair,  and  then  but  a  single  horse;  and  they  have 
a  negro  servant  to  drive  them.  The  gentlemen  ride 
out,  here  as  in  England,  some  in  chairs  and  others 
on  horse-back." 

In  the  opinion  of  this  writer,  whose  name  was  Ben- 
nett, the  country  Inns  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston 
were  only  fairly  good.  They  provided  Indian  corn, 
roasted,  and  bread  made  of  Indian  meal ;  pretty  good 
butter,  but  a  very  sad  sort  of  cheese,  and  a  sorry  kind 
of  Madeira  wine. 

At  a  Town  Meeting,  June  22,  1757,  it  was  ordered 
that  "no  slay  shall  be  drove  in  the  streets  without  Bells 
fastned  to  the  Horses  that  draw  the  same.  .  .  . 
Great  dangers  arising  oftentimes  from  Coaches, 
Slays,  Chairs  and  other  Carriages  on  the  Lord's  Days, 
1  Mass.  Historical  Society  Proceedings,  January,  1861. 

170 


THE    LEVERETT    LOT 


as  the  People  are  going  to  or  coming  from  the  sev- 
eral Churches  in  this  Town,  being  driven  with  great 
Rapidity;  and  the  Publick  Worship  being  oftentimes 
much  disturbed  by  such  Carriages  driving  by  the  sides 
of  the  Churches  with  great  force.  It  is  therefore 
Voted  and  Ordered  that  no  Coach,  Slay,  Chair, 
Chaise  or  other  Carriage  shall  be  driven  at  a  greater 
Rate  than  a  Foot  Pace,  on  Penalty  to  the  Master  of 
the  Slave  or  Servant  so  driving,  the  Sum  of  ten 
Shillings." 

Apropos  of  the  vehicles  used  in  Boston  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  may  be  of  interest 
to  give  the  toll-rates  over  Charles  River  Bridge, 
which  was  opened  to  public  travel,  June  17,  1786,  with 
imposing  ceremonies. 

Each  foot  passenger I  copper. 

One  Person  and  Horse 4  coppers. 

Single  Horse-Cart,  Sled  or  Sley 6  coppers. 

Single  Horse  and  Chaise,  Chair  or  Sulky.  12  coppers. 

Coaches,  Chariots,  Phaetons  and  Curri- 
cles   18  coppers. 

All  other  Wheel  Carriages  drawn  by  more 

than  one  Beast 9  coppers. 

Neat  Cattle  and  Horses,  passing  the  said 

Bridge,  exclusive  of  those  rode 2  coppers. 

Sheep  and  Swine,  each  dozen 6  coppers. 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

The  Columbian  Centinel,  February  22,  1797,  had 
this  notice.  "As  a  Gentleman  and  his  servant  were 
returning  to  Boston  on  the  Portsmouth  road,  5  miles 
from  this  town,  in  an  open  chaise,  they  were  turned 
over  on  purpose  by  a  wild  young  man,  and  narrowly 
escaped  with  their  lives.  The  gentleman,  in  being 
dragged  along,  lost  a  green  morrocco  pocket-book  con- 
taining Bank  Bills  to  Five  Hundred  and  Fifty  Dol- 
lars amount.  Whoever  has  found  the  same,  and  will 
leave  it  at  the  Centinel  Office,  shall  receive  Thirty  Dol- 
lars Reward." 

Edward  Durant 

IN  the  year  1707  Edward  Durant  was  occupying  a 
house  on  this  corner  lot.     His  name  appears  in  a 
list  of  inhabitants  of  Boston  in  1695,  and  it  was  prob- 
ably his  son,  of  the  same  name,  who  became  promi- 
nent in  Town  affairs,  at  a  somewhat  later  period. 

Edward  Durant,  the  younger  (1695-1740),  was  a 
blacksmith,  of  Boston,  who  served  as  a  Constable  and 
as  a  Clerk  of  the  Market.  He  attained  the  rank  of 
third  sergeant  in  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artil- 
lery Company.  In  1728  the  Selectmen  granted  his 
petition  "for  Liberty  of  building  a  Dwelling  House 
of  Timber  in  Winter  Street,"  and  this  action  was 

172 


THE    LEVERETT    LOT 


duly   noted   in   the   "Book   for   Recording  Timber 
Buildings." 

In  1733  Mr.  Durant  was  appointed  a  member  of  a 
Committee  to  receive  proposals  "touching  the  demol- 
ishing, repairing  or  leasing  out  the  old  buildings  be- 
longing to  the  Town  in  Dock  Square."  Meetings  of 
this  Committee  were  appointed  to  be  held  each  Thurs- 
day evening  at  the  Bunch  of  Grapes  Tavern,  on  the 
corner  of  Mackerel  Lane,  now  Kilby  Street,  and 
King,  now  State  Street.  This  was  one  of  the  most 
noted  among  the  ancient  inns  of  Boston.  Mackerel 
Lane  wound  along  the  shore  line  in  early  times.  The 
house  of  William  Hudson,  Senior,  stood  on  this  cor- 
ner, and  in  1643  a  "Harbour  of  Boats"  was  con- 
structed in  the  salt  marsh  near  by. 

Mr.  Durant  bought  a  large  farm  in  Newton  for 
£1800,  and  removed  his  residence  thither. 

This  farm,  of  ninety-one  acres,  was  on  the  south- 
ern part  of  Nonantum  Hill.  In  1734  Captain 
Edward  Durant  asked  leave  to  build  a  pew  in  the 
meeting-house  at  Newton,  but  his  petition  was  not 
granted.  He  was  described  at  this  time  as  a  very 
wealthy  man  from  Boston,  and  the  owner  of  three 
slaves.  He  served  as  a  Selectman  of  Newton,  and 
was  a  delegate  from  that  town  to  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress at  Cambridge  in  1774  and  1775. 

173 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 


Jeremiah  Smith  Boies 

T  N  1791  one-half  of  the  Leverett  pasture  lot  became 
•*•  the  property  of  Jeremiah  Smith  Boies  of  Milton, 
Gentleman.  The  westerly  boundary  line  extended 
from  the  corner  of  Winter  Street  along  Common 
Street  until  it  struck  the  dwelling-house  of  Levi 
Pease,  which  stood  on  the  north  lot  of  the  Cathedral 
land.  On  the  east  side,  towards  Washington  Street, 
was  the  land  of  Luke  Baker. 

Jeremiah  Smith  Boies  (1762-1851),  son  of  James 
Boies,  a  native  of  Ireland,  came  to  America  at  an 
early  age,  and  took  up  his  abode  with  a  farmer  at 
Medford,  Massachusetts,  who  made  a  business  of 
market-gardening.  His  produce  was  taken  over  the 
road  to  Charlestown  Ferry,  and  thence  to  Boston. 
Mr.  Boies,  Senior,  made  several  voyages  to  Ireland 
as  supercargo  of  a  merchant  vessel  sent  over  to  bring 
back  emigrants.  And  in  1770  he  carried  to  England 
the  first  tidings  of  the  King  Street  massacre  in 
Boston. 

When,  in  the  winter  of  1775-6,  General  Washing- 
ton determined  to  build  a  fort  on  Dorchester  Heights, 
he  made  a  requisition  for  a  large  quantity  of  white 
birch-poles,  for  the  manufacture  of  fascines;  and 

174 


THE   LEVERETT    LOT 


many  of  these  birch-poles  came  from  the  farm  of 
James  Boies  in  Milton.  At  night,  on  or  about  March 
12,  1776,  the  fascines  were  transported  in  numerous 
teams  to  Dorchester  Heights.  The  supervision  of 
these  teams  devolved  upon  Mr.  Boies,  who  accom- 
panied them  on  horse-back  and  took  along  his  boy, 
Jeremiah  Smith  Boies,  then  thirteen  years  of  age. 
The  fascines  were  unloaded  on  the  top  of  the  hill, 
and  the  fortification  hastily  constructed,  half-a-dozen 
cannon  being  mounted  thereon.  The  British  pre- 
pared to  attack  the  fort  on  the  following  day,  but  a 
violent  tempest  prevented  their  doing  so,  and  within 
a  week  they  evacuated  the  town.  After  the  lapse  of 
seventy  years,  Jeremiah  Smith  Boies  published  some 
historical  reminiscences,  wherein  he  gave  an  account 
of  his  experiences  on  the  memorable  occasion  above 
mentioned.1 

James  Boies,  the  father,  was  the  owner  of  a  paper- 
mill  adjoining  the  Neponset  River,  in  what  was  then 
Dorchester ;  now  within  the  limits  of  Milton.  During 
a  portion  of  each  day  tide-water  prevented  the  run- 
ning of  the  mill.  When  the  latter  was  started  in 
1759  or  thereabout,  Mr.  Boies  employed  a  paper- 
maker,  named  Hazelton,  who  was  attached  to  a  Brit- 

1  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register.    Vol.  VI. 
255- 

175 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

ish  regiment  then  stationed  at  Boston.  Hazelton  ob- 
tained a  furlough,  and  superintended  the  starting  of 
the  mill;  but  soon  after  he  rejoined  his  regiment, 
which  was  ordered  to  Quebec,  where  Hazelton  fell 
in  battle  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  Jeremiah  Smith 
Boies  was  a  Harvard  Graduate,  Class  of  1783,  and  a 
trustee  of  Milton  Academy.  He  inherited  his  father's 
milling  interests,  which  he  retained  until  1801,  when 
he  disposed  of  them  and  removed  his  residence  to 
Boston,  where  he  lived  for  half  a  century,  and  became 
an  Alderman  under  the  City  government. 

Doctor  Thomas  Bartlett 

MR.  BOIES  sold  his  house  and  corner-lot,  June 
1 8,  1792,  to  Ann  Thompson,  widow,  of  Boston. 
In  1798,  Thomas  Thompson,  a  merchant,  owned  and 
occupied  the  estate,  a  part  of  which  he  sold,  July  16, 

1821,  to  George  Whiting,  also  of  Boston.    Afterward 
this  portion  was  for  many  years  the  property  and 
residence  of  Doctor  Thomas  Bartlett  (1767-1856), 
whose  house,  number  132  Tremont  Street,  was  the 
next  door  but  one  to  Saint  Paul's  Church,  on  the 
north  side.    He  first  occupied  this  house  in  the  year 

1822,  having  previously  lived  in  Somerset  Street. 
He  was  a  son  of  John  and  Tabitha  (Kidder)  Bart- 

176 


THE    LEVERETT    LOT 


lett,  of  Boston.  His  first  wife,  whom  he  married  in 
1794,  was  Mrs.  Alice  (Fitzpatrick)  Wyer.  She  died 
in  1800,  and  he  married  at  Brattle  Square  Church, 
Mrs.  Hannah  (Gray)  Wilson.  His  brother,  John 
Bartlett  (1760-1844),  was  a  prominent  physician  of 
Roxbury.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Humane  Society  and  of  the  Roxbury  Chari- 
table Society. 

Dr.  Thomas  Bartlett  was  a  well-known  and  highly 
respected  druggist,  who  was  engaged  in  business  for 
many  years  in  old  Cornhill,  now  a  part  of  Washing- 
ton Street,  at  the  sign  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  This 
sign  originally  portrayed  a  Levite,  who  was  repre- 
sented as  "passing  by  on  the  other  side."  This  was 
soon  erased,  however,  because  the  artist  had  produced 
a  portrait  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  William  Walter,  rec- 
tor of  Christ  Church,  in  full  canonicals  and  wearing 
a  wig.  And  so  accurate  was  the  likeness  that  it  was 
recognized  at  once  by  passers-by.  In  March,  1799, 
Doctor  Bartlett  advertised  fresh  drugs,  electrical 
apparatus,  dye-stuffs  and  perfumery,  as  for  sale  at 
his  store.  In  September,  1800,  he  removed  from  No. 
6 1  Cornhill  to  No.  13,  directly  opposite. 

Previous  to  this,  when  the  Boston  Dispensary  was 
established,  in  1796,  Dr.  Bartlett  was  appointed 
Apothecary,  and  the  symbol  of  the  Good  Samaritan 

177 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

was  adopted  by  the  Managers  for  their  Institution, 
in  accordance  with  his  suggestion.  But  the  original 
sign  remained  for  many  years  in  its  old  place,  above 
the  door  of  the  Apothecary  Shop  in  Cornhill.  Later 
it  became  the  property  of  the  Dispensary. 

A  beautiful  sculpture,  representing  the  same  sub- 
ject, was  given  the  Dispensary  in  1839,  by  a  provision 
of  the  will  of  Benjamin  Dearborn,  who  was  the  chief 
benefactor  of  the  Institution.  It  is  to  be  seen  above 
the  delivery  window  of  the  Apothecary's  room,  on 
the  entrance  floor  of  the  building  in  Bennet  Street. 
This  sculpture  was  carved  in  1790  for  Mr.  Dearborn, 
by  William  Dearing  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 

A  Catalogue  of  Drugs  and  Medicines  for  sale  by 
Thomas  Bartlett  in  1795  includes  the  following  arti- 
cles, and  the  list  may  be  of  interest  as  showing  what 
were  some  of  the  popular  remedies  at  that  time. 

"Bateman's  Pectoral  Drops;  Betton's  British  Oil; 
Duffy's  Elixir;  Dipple's  Animal  Oil;  Godfrey's  Cor- 
dial; Haarlem  Oil;  Hemet's  Essence  of  Pearl;  Ceph- 
alic Snuff;  Honey  Water;  James's  Analiptic  Pills; 
Steer's  Opodeldoc;  Stoughton's  Elixir  Magnum 
Stomachicum;  Speediman's  Pills,  and  Turlington's 
Balsam  of  Life." 

Doctor  Bartlett  was  a  Vestryman  of  King's  Chapel 


THE   LEVERETT   LOT 


for  thirty-one  years.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company.  His  per- 
sonality was  imposing.  He  was  six  feet  in  height 
and  his  hair  turned  white  at  the  age  of  thirty.  Soon 
after  his  second  marriage  he  visited  France,  and  was 
present  at  a  review  of  troops  in  Paris.  On  this  occa- 
sion the  first  Napoleon  was  said  to  have  been  greatly 
impressed  with  his  appearance. 

An  excellent  portrait  of  Dr.  Bartlett,  by  Gilbert 
Stuart,  is  in  the  possession  of  his  great-grand-daugh- 
ter, Miss  Minna  Bartlett  Hall,  of  Longwood,  Brook- 
line. 

The  following  lines  are  quoted  from  a  notice  which 
appeared  in  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  December 
13,  1856: 

"Thomas  Bartlett  was  a  gentleman  of  the  Old 
School.  He  was  very  generally  known  in  our  com- 
munity as  a  bright  example  of  a  virtuous,  manly 
character.  With  an  amiability  of  disposition  and  a 
natural  suavity  of  manners  were  combined  qualities 
of  mind  and  heart  that  commanded  the  respect,  as 
well  as  the  warm  regard  of  all  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact.  .  .  . 

"Retiring  early  from  the  business  of  a  druggist, 
with  a  fortune  very  moderate,  yet  enough  for  his 
desires,  he  was  known  for  many  years  only  in  the 
social  walks  of  life.  His  venerable  head  and  con- 

179 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

spicuous  white  locks  have  often  been  the  subject  of 
pleasant  comment  from  strangers  of  a  new  genera- 
tion." 


1 80 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 


WINTER  STREET  LOTS 

Doctor  John  Gorham 

THOMAS  and  Nancy  Thompson  conveyed,  July 
u,  1822,  a  lot  on  Tremont  Street,  between  Saint 
Paul's  Church  and  Dr.  Bartlett's  estate,  to  Dr.  John 
Gorham  (1783-1829;  A.B.,  1801;  M.D.,  1804,  Har- 
vard). After  studying  abroad,  he  became  Assistant 
Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Materia  Medica  in  the 
Harvard  Medical  School,  and  in  1816  he  succeeded 
Dr.  Aaron  Dexter  as  Professor.  His  popular  lec- 
tures on  Chemistry  were  attended  by  mixed  com- 
panies, among  whom  were  many  of  "the  most  re- 
spectable ladies  of  the  town."  Dr.  Gorham  was  a 
Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences. 

Doctor  George  Hayward 

IN  May,  1829,  William  Minot  and  Luther  Faulk- 
ner, the  trustees  of  Doctor  Gorham's  estate,  sold 
this  property  at  public  auction  to  George  Hayward, 
M.D.    (1791-1863),    of    Boston.     His    father,    Dr. 
Samuel  Hayward,  was  a  surgeon  in  the  American 

183 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

army  during  the  Revolution.  The  son  fitted  for  col- 
lege at  the  Boston  Latin  School,  and  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  1809  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  He  took 
his  medical  degree  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
in  1812,  and  established  himself  in  Boston,  where  he 
had  a  considerable  practice.  In  1835  he  was  ap- 
pointed Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Harvard  Med- 
ical School.  He  was  at  one  time  President  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  and  a  Fellow  of  the 
American  Academy.  Dr.  Hayward  conveyed  his 
Winter  Street  house  and  land  to  the  Boston  Lying-in 
Hospital,  June  15,  1837. 

Doctor  John  Romans 

OR  many  years  the  estate  on  the  south  corner  of 
Winter  Street  was  the  residence  of  Dr.  John 
Homans  (1793-1868),  a  well-known  practitioner,  of 
Boston.  He  prepared  for  college  at  Andover,  Massa- 
chusetts; graduated  at  Harvard  in  1812,  and  began 
practice  in  the  town  of  Brookfield,  whose  Repre- 
sentative in  the  Legislature  he  became.  Following 
the  advice  of  his  former  preceptor,  Dr.  John  Gorham, 
he  removed  to  Boston  in  1829,  and  there  attained 
success  in  his  profession.  He  was  President  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society  for  two  years,  and 

184 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

-        —?— 

delivered  the  anniversary  discourse  at  its  annual 
meeting  in  1844,  portraying  therein  the  intellectual, 
moral  and  professional  qualities  which  should  char- 
acterize the  "Good  Physician." 

Dr.  Homans  served  as  a  member  of  the  Standing 
Committee  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  He 
married  Caroline,  daughter  of  Dudley  and  Eleanor 
(Clark)  Walker.  Of  their  twelve  children,  two  be- 
came prominent  among  the  physicians  of  Boston, 
Doctors  Charles  Dudley  and  John  Homans. 

The  North  Corner  of  Tremont  and  Winter 

Streets 

AT  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen  of  Boston,  April 
2,  1637,  this  house-lot,  adjoining  land  of  Stephen 
Kinsley,  a  farmer,  and  the  "garding-plott"  of  Daniel 
Maud,  school-master,  was  granted  to  the  wife  of 
Richard  Sherman,  who  was  described  as  a  planter. 
He  had  become  a  resident  of  Boston  in  1634.  The 
name  of  Elizabeth  Sherman  is  associated  with  the 
so-called  "Pig  case"  or  "Sow-business,"  which  amused 
and  excited  the  townspeople.  This  is  described  at 
some  length  in  Governor  Winthrop's  History  of  New 
England,  II,  70.  At  the  session  of  the  General  Court 
in  1642,  he  wrote,  "There  fell  out  a  great  business 
upon  a  very  small  occasion." 

185 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

A  stray  white  sow  was  brought  to  Captain  Robert 
Keayne,  a  prominent  citizen,  who  kept  it  in  his  yard, 
after  unavailing  efforts  by  the  Town  crier  to  find  its 
owner.  The  sow  was  afterward  claimed  by  Mrs. 
Sherman,  and  hence  arose  a  controversy  which  lasted 
for  nearly  two  years,  and  led  to  very  important  re- 
sults. No  decision  could  be  reached  by  the  members 
of  the  General  Court,  who  were  divided  into  two  fac- 
tions, about  equal  numerically.  Hence  originated  the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

This  dispute  between  a  rich  citizen,  afterward  the 
Town's  benefactor,  and  a  poor  woman,  served  for  a 
time  to  excite  ill  feeling  between  the  aristocratic  ele- 
ment in  the  community  and  the  common  people.  The 
public  temper  waxed  warm,  and  the  persistency 
shown  on  either  side  in  this  ludicrous  case  was  said 
to  exemplify  "the  inflexible  will  of  man." 

William  Hudson,  Senior 

WILLIAM  HUDSON,  Senior,  was  one  of  the 
earlier  owners  of  this  corner  lot.     His  name 
appears  in  the  Town  Records,  August  15,  1636,  when 
he  and  John  Samp  ford  were  chosen  "Water  Baylies, 
to  see  that  no  annoying  things,  eyther  by  fish,  wood 

186 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

or  stone,  or  other  such  like  things,  be  left  or  layd 
about  the  seashore/'  At  a  Town  meeting,  April  2, 
1638,  William  Hudson  was  chosen  cowkeeper  for  the 
ensuing  year,  and  he  was  to  have  "for  every  cowe 
goeing  upon  the  Necke  a  bushell  of  corne  at  harvest, 
and  for  every  calfe  put  to  his  keeping,  a  peck  of 
corne."  In  1640  he  received  permission  from  the 
General  Court  to  keep  an  Inn.  Mention  has  been 
made  of  his  estate  in  Mackerel  Lane,  now  Kilby 
Street,  where  later  stood  the  Bunch  of  Grapes  Tav- 
ern, a  popular  resort  of  seafaring  people,  and  noted 
as  the  best  "punch-house"  in  Boston.  William  Hud- 
son, the  younger,  served  with  Cromwell's  parliamen- 
tary army  in  England,  having  the  rank  of  ensign  in 
the  company  of  Captain  John  Leverett,  who  later  be- 
came Governor  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony.  The 
latter's  company  was  a  part  of  the  regiment  com- 
manded by  Colonel  William  Rainesborough,  a  former 
resident  of  Charlestown.  Mr.  Hudson,  tiring  of  the 
service,  soon  after  returned  to  Boston.  In  1667 
Captain  William  Hudson  was  licensed  to  "draw  Beere 
and  Wine  for  the  yeare  ensuing,"  and  in  1669  he 
received  permission  to  keep  a  "house  of  publique  en- 
tertainment." The  Town  records  show  that  he  con- 
tinued in  business  as  an  Innkeeper  as  long  as  he  lived. 
November  14,  1673,  several  persons  were  "ordered 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

not  to  make  any  fire  in  their  Cooper  shop  chimnies, 
till  they  are  sufficiently  repaired  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  Selectmen,  upon  the  penaltie  of  205."  And  Cap- 
tain William  Hudson's  "Castell  chamber  chimny" 
was  specified  as  being  in  an  unsafe  condition.  The 
habitations  and  shops  built  by  ithe  early  colonists 
were  exceedingly  primitive,  and  ill  adapted  to  with- 
stand fire.  The  roofs  were  thatched,  and  the  chim- 
neys were  constructed  of  logs  laid  crosswise,  the  in- 
tervening spaces  being  filled  with  clay.  In  trying  to 
offset  the  fire-risk,  the  Town  Fathers  had  ordered, 
some  years  before,  that  every  householder  should 
provide  a  ladder  of  sufficient  length  to  enable  one  to 
climb  to  the  ridge-pole  of  his  house ;  and  also  "a  pole 
of  above  1 2-foot  long,  with  a  good,  large  swob  at  the 
end  of  it,  that  shall  reach  to  the  ridg  of  the  house." 
An  ordinance  of  1654  provided  that  "if  anye  Chim- 
ney shall  be  fired  soe  as  to  Flame  out  att  the  topp,  the 
owner  thereof  shall  paye  unto  the  town's  treasurer, 
for  the  use  of  the  towne,  the  sum  of  five  shillings." 

William  Hudson,  "Vintner,"  sold  his  estate  on  the 
corner  of  Dock  Square  and  Hudson's  Lane  (now 
Elm  Street),  in  1674,  to  John  Wing,  a  shopkeeper, 
for  £1000.  The  property  consisted  of  one  Mansion 
house  standing  "neere  ye  towne  dock,  comonly  called 
and  known  by  the  name  of  the  Castle  Tavern;  to- 

188 


WINTER   STREET    LOTS 

gether  with  the  land,  yards  and  garden  thereunto 
belonging;  also  the  brew-house,  stable  and  all  other 
out-houses  and  buildings  standing  upon  the  same." 

Arthur  Mason,  Biscuit  Baker 

/CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  HUDSON  of  Boston, 
^^  Vintner  and  Innkeeper,  sold  this  Winter  Street 
lot,  December  31,  1662,  to  Arthur  Mason  (1631- 
1708),  who  was  styled  a  "Besket  Baker"  in  the  deed 
of  sale.  In  a  later  conveyance  he  is  called  a  "Bis- 
cake  Baker."  He  was  admitted  a  freeman  in  1664, 
and  served  the  Town  as  a  Constable.  Samuel  G. 
Drake,  in  his  History  of  Boston,  describes  him  as  a 
"blunt,  honest  Christian."  Arthur  Mason  was  a 
legal  guardian  of  Jonathan  Gatliffe,  a  sixteen-year- 
old  boy,  who  was  charged  at  a  County  Court  in  Cam- 
bridge, March  20,  1685,  with  "frequenting  Harvard 
College  contrary  to  law"  by  being  present  at  a  festive 
gathering  in  the  room  of  Francis  Wainwright,  a 
member  of  the  Junior  class. 

As  a  constable  Arthur  Mason  was  resolute  and 
fearless.  On  a  Saturday  night  in  January,  1666,  Sir 
Robert  Carr  and  Samuel  Maverick,  two  of  the  Royal 
Commissioners,  who  had  then  recently  been  sent  over 
from  England  by  King  Charles  II,  were  having  a 

189 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

noisy  revel,  with  some  of  their  friends,  at  the  Ship 
Tavern,  or  "Noah's  Ark,"  a  favorite  resort  of  theirs, 
at  the  North  End  of  Boston.  They  had  already  as- 
saulted one  constable  when  Mason  appeared  and 
ordered  them  to  be  quiet.  An  altercation  ensued, 
during  which  Mason  told  Carr  that  he  would  arrest 
the  King  himself  if  the  latter  were  found  disturbing 
the  peace  in  Boston  on  a  Saturday  night.  For  these 
words  the  General  Court  sentenced  Arthur  Mason 
"to  be  admonished  in  a  solemn  manner"  by  the  Gov- 
ernor; while  Sir  Robert  Carr  was  summoned  to  ap- 
pear before  his  Excellency  to  answer  for  "riotous 
and  abusive  carriage"  to  one  of  his  Majesty's  officers, 
a  constable  of  Boston. 

Anthony  Stoddard,  Linen  Draper 

ANTHONY  STODDARD  was  an  occupant  of 
the  house  on  this  corner  estate  when  Arthur 
Mason  bought  it  in  1662.  He  was  admitted  a  mem- 
ber of  the  First  Church  in  1639,  being  described  on 
its  records  as  a  "Lynning  Draper."  The  same  year 
he  joined  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Com- 
pany. Mr.  Stoddard  was  an  influential  citizen  of 
Boston,  and  the  founder  of  a  distinguished  family. 
He  was  married  four  times,  and  his  son  Solomon  was 

190 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

the  first  librarian  of  Harvard  College,  in  1667.  He 
had  a  shop  on  Shrimpton's  Lane,  the  present  Ex- 
change Street.  At  a  Town  meeting,  March  18,  1644, 
there  was  "graunted  to  Anthony  Stoddard  liberty  to 
make  his  Enterance  out  of  the  street  into  his  Sellar, 
neere  our  Pastor's  house,  in  such  manner  as  was 
Graunted  to  James  Oliver,  and  to  open  his  shop-win- 
dow-board two  foot  into  the  street."  In  1650  Mr. 
Stoddard  was  appointed  Recorder  of  Boston,  and 
he  represented  the  Town  in  the  General  Court  for 
twenty-two  years.  No  man  in  his  time,  it  was  stated, 
had  been  chosen  so  often  for  like  service.  He  was 
also  a  Selectman  four  years.  Chief  Justice  Samuel 
Sewall  in  his  Diary  (1679)  described  Anthony  Stod- 
dard as  "the  ancientist  shop-keeper  in  town." 

Edmund  White,  Merchant 

EDMUND  WHITE,  of  London,  England,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  next  owner,  although  no 
record  is  found  of  any  conveyance  to  him  by  Arthur 
Mason.  He  evidently  was  engaged  in  business  in 
the  Colony  at  an  early  period,  for  we  learn  from  the 
Aspinwall  Notarial  Records  that  Edmund  White  of 
London,  merchant,  on  January  30,  1639,  appointed 
David  Yale,  also  of  London,  his  Attorney  to  have 

191 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

charge  of  all  such  "summes  of  money,  plantations, 
goods,  cattle,  merchandise,  wares  and  comodities 
whatsoever  as  are  due,  oweing  or  belonging  unto  mee 
by  or  from  John  Woolcot  of  Newtowne  alias  Cam- 
bridge .  .  .  or  by  any  other  person  or  persons  in 
New  England."  Recorded,  June  15,  1649. 


Captain  Edward  Willis 

-  WHITE  sold  the  Sherman  lot  (cotaining 
some  30,700  square  feet)  July  9,  1672,  to  Cap- 
tain Edward  Willis  of  Boston,  for  £120,  or  at  the  rate 
of  about  two  cents  a  foot !  The  lot  was  fenced  in,  and 
was  bounded  on  the  South  by  "the  lane  going  to  the 
Common/'  Willis's  Lane,  now  Winter  Street.  No 
mention  was  made  of  any  house  on  this  land  until 
later.  Captain  Willis  asked  leave  of  the  General 
Court  to  build  a  wooden  house  in  1683,  but  for  some 
unexplained  reason  he  was  "steadily  refused."  At  a 
public  meeting  of  the  freemen  of  Boston,  April  4, 
1690,  Mr.  Edward  Willis  was  chosen  a  Commis- 
sioner "to  set  the  price  of  wheate  to  the  white  bread 
bakers  for  the  yeare  ensuing." 


192 


WINTER   STREET    LOTS 


Colonel  Samuel  Vetch 

THE  next  conveyance  is  dated  April  18,  1712. 
Elizabeth  Willey,  widow,  and  Ruth  Willey,  only 
daughter  and  granddaughter  of  Edward  Willis,  were 
the  grantors.  Colonel  Samuel  Vetch  (1668-1732) 
was  the  grantee,  and  paid  £400  for  the  land  and  a 
dwelling-house  thereon.  He  was  born  at  Edinburgh, 
Scotland,  December  9,  1668,  the  third  son  of  William 
Vetch,  "a  godly  minister  and  a  glorifier  of  God  in  the 
Grass  Market."1 

William  Vetch  was  a  Covenanter  who  fled  to  Hol- 
land with  his  two  sons,  Samuel  and  William.  They 
completed  their  education  at  the  University  of 
Utrecht.  Coming  to  America  in  1699,  Samuel  be- 
came a  trader  at  Albany,  N.  Y.  In  1702  he  removed 
to  Boston,  and  three  years  after  was  sent  to  Quebec 
by  Governor  Joseph  Dudley  as  a  diplomatic  agent. 
In  1708  he  visited  his  parents  in  Scotland  and  then 
went  to  London,  where  he  laid  before  Queen  Anne 
and  her  ministers  a  plan  for  the  conquest  of  Canada. 
His  suggestions  were  approved,  and  he  was  des- 
patched on  a  war-vessel,  with  instructions  to  the  Gov- 
ernors of  the  several  Provinces.  Arriving  at  Boston 

1  International  Review.    Vol.  XI.     1881. 

193 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

in  April,  1709,  Vetch  was  active  in  making  prepara- 
tions for  a  campaign  against  Nova  Scotia.  In  the 
expedition  of  1710  Francis  Nicholson  was  com- 
mander-in-chief,  and  Samuel  Vetch  was  Adjutant- 
General.  The  fleet  of  thirty-six  vessels  sailed  from 
Boston  with  royal  marines  and  colonial  troops.  Port 
Royal  was  taken,  and  Samuel  Vetch  became  the  first 
English  Governor  of  Nova  Scotia.  After  two  years' 
service  he  again  became  a  resident  of  Boston,  and 
then  it  was  that  he  acquired  the  Winter  Street  cor- 
ner lot. 

Mr.  Vetch  later  returned  to  England,  where  he 
was  living  in  1719.  Chief  Justice  Samuel  Sewall 
wrote  in  his  Diary  that  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  Friday,  July  16,  1714,  there  was  a  great 
flash  of  lightning  and  a  terrible  clap  of  thunder,  a 
bolt  struck  Colonel  Vetch's  house  (that  was  bought 
of  Captain  Willis's  heirs),  and  damaged  "the  end  of 
the  kitchen  next  Pollard's;  split  the  principal  Rafter 
next  that  end  to  the  purloin ;  Ript  off  the  Clapboards, 
loosened  many  more;  plough'd  off  the  cieling  of  that 
end  wall  here  and  there  in  a  Line;  Lifted  up  the  Sash 
window,  broke  one  of  the  Squares;  knocked  down 
two  boys  that  stood  by  the  dresser.  'Tis  the  more 
Melancholick  because  Madam  Vetch  is  just  remov- 

194 


WINTER   STREET    LOTS 

ing  thither,  though  the  work  of  Transformation  be 
not  finished." 

Samuel  Vetch  and  his  wife  Margaret  sold  this 
property,  March  22,  1714,  to  Captain  Thomas  Steel 
(1664-1735)  for  £1050  in  New  England  currency. 
He  was  a  native  of  Renfrewshire,  Scotland,  and 
came  to  Boston  when  he  was  about  twenty-one  years 
old.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Brattle  Square 
Church  in  1711.  Rev.  Benjamin  Colman,  its  pastor, 
described  Thomas  Steel  as  an  "Honour  to  the  King- 
dom and  Church  of  Scotland,  where  he  was  born  and 
educated;  a  Gentleman  of  superior  Wisdom  and  Vir- 
tue." Mr.  Steel  joined  the  Scots'  Charitable  Society 
in  1686,  and  was  its  President  for  eight  years.  He 
retained  the  Winter  Street  corner  lot  until  1722. 
Whether  or  not  he  made  his  residence  there  is  uncer- 
tain, but  in  later  years  he  occupied  a  dwelling  on 
Hanover  Street,  where  he  had  a  bake-house.  He 
also  owned  a  farm  in  the  town  of  Leicester,  Massa- 
chusetts. Thomas  Steel  married  a  daughter  of  John 
Nelson,  who  was  a  prominent  citizen  during  the  Ad- 
ministration of  Governor  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  and 
active  in  causing  the  latter's  overthrow. 


195 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 


Lieutenant-Colonel  Adam  Winthrop 

ADAM  WINTHROP  was  the  next  owner,  having 
bought  the  property  of  Thomas  Steel,  June  25, 
1722,  for  £1250.  Adam  Winthrop,  third  of  the  name 
in  Boston,  was  a  great-grandson  of  Governor  John 
Winthrop  of  Massachusetts.  His  name  appears  often 
in  the  Town  records  with  the  prefix  "Honourable." 
He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  Class  of  1694;  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel of  the  Boston  regiment;  Representa- 
tive and  Councillor;  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas.  He  also  served  the  Town  as  a  Con- 
stable, as  a  Clerk  of  the  Market,  and  as  an  Inspector 
of  the  Grammar  School.  In  1708  he  was  chosen  one 
of  a  committee  "to  draw  up  a  Scheme  of  a  Charter 
of  Incorporation,  for  the  Incouragement  and  better 
Government  of  the  Town."  The  residence  of  Colonel 
Winthrop  was  at  one  time  on  Atkinson  (now  Con- 
gress) Street,  which  ran  from  Milk  Street  to  Cow 
Lane,  the  present  High  Street. 

Thomas  Oxnard 

"^k  T  EXT  in  the  series  of  owners  was  Thomas 
•*•  ^  Oxnard,  who  bought  from  Adam  Winthrop, 
December  22,  1742,  the  same  corner  lot,  formerly  the 

196 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

estate  of  Samuel  Vetch,  and  paid  therefor  the  sum  of 
£3600.  Mr.  Oxnard  was  from  Durham,  England, 
and  came  to  Boston  before  1737.  He  was  a  merchant 
and  importer  of  foreign  wares.  In  1740  he  was  one 
of  the  promoters  of  the  so-called  "Silver  Scheme," 
organized  by  an  Association  of  Boston  merchants, 
who  issued  their  Notes,  in  opposition  to  the  Land 
Bank  or  "Manufactory  Scheme,"  for  the  purpose  of 
furnishing  a  circulating  medium,  which  was  greatly 
needed  at  that  time. 

Thomas  Oxnard  was  a  prominent  Freemason.  On 
March  6,  1744,  he  was  installed  as  Provincial  Grand 
Master  of  Masons  in  New  England,  being  the  third 
incumbent  of  that  office.  The  first  Provincial  Grand 
Lodge  of  Freemasons  in  America  had  been  estab- 
lished at  Boston  in  1733.  The  residence  of  Mr.  Ox- 
nard was  on  Tremont  Street,  "at  some  distance  back 
from  the  road;  the  lot  on  which  it  stood  extending 
from  Winter  to  the  next  street  running  parallel  with 
it  on  the  north."1  This  was  a  lane  which  followed 
the  line  of  Hamilton  Place.  The  latter  is  compara- 
tively modern,  dating  from  1806. 

Governor  Sir  Francis  Bernard,  whose  official  resi- 
dence was  the  Province  House,  is  said  to  have  occu- 
pied Mr.  Oxnard's  dwelling  during  a  part  of  his  ad- 
1  New  Eng.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Register.    Vol.  26,  page  4. 

197 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

ministration,  which  began  in  1760  and  lasted  nine 
years. 

We  have  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Lucius  Manlius  Sar- 
gent, who  stated  that  his  mother  once  pointed  out  to 
him  the  room  which  she  had  occupied  when  visiting 
the  Bernards. 

The  Public  Granary 

AN  English  gentleman,  the  Reverend  Andrew 
Burnaby,  who  visited  Boston  in  1759,  was  the 
author  of  a  volume  entitled  Travels  through  North 
America.  He  mentions  therein  the  public  Granary 
as  one  of  the  principal  buildings  in  the  South  End  of 
the  Town,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Cathedral  land. 
Originally  placed  on  the  upper  side  of  the  Common, 
it  was  rebuilt  in  1737  on  the  site  now  occupied  by 
Park  Street  Church,  on  the  corner  of  Centry  Street 
(which  led  up  to  Beacon  Hill)  and  Long  Acre.  It 
was  established  in  order  that  the  poorer  inhabitants 
might  obtain  grain  in  small  quantities  at  a  moderate 
cost.  The  Reverend  Mr.  Burnaby,  in  an  account  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Province,  stated  that  the  gentry 
of  both  sexes  were  hospitable  and  good-natured. 
"There  is  an  air  of  civility  in  their  behaviour,"  he 
wrote,  "but  it  is  constrained  by  formality  and  precise- 

198 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

ness.  Even  the  women,  though  easiness  of  carriage 
is  peculiarly  characteristic  of  their  nature,  appear 
here  with  more  reserve  than  in  the  other  Col- 
onies. .  .  .  ' 

John  Williams,  Inspector-General 

ON  the  eighth  of  August,  1768,  Thomas  Oxnard, 
the  younger,  Edward  Oxnard  and  others,  heirs 
of  Thomas  Oxnard,  Senior,  all  of  Falmouth  (now 
Portland,  Maine),  in  the  County  of  Cumberland,  and 
Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  conveyed  this  prop- 
erty to  John  Williams,  Esquire,  of  Boston.  It  in- 
cluded a  dwelling-house,  with  yards,  gardens,  land 
and  all  appurtenances,  "situate  near  the  Common." 
John  Williams  was  Inspector-General  of  the  Customs, 
and  a  pronounced  loyalist.  It  is  probable  that  he  was 
a  tenant  of  Thomas  Oxnard  before  he  bought  the 
latter's  estate. 

In  June,  1768,  the  sloop  Liberty,  belonging  to  John 
Hancock,  Esq.,  arrived  at  Hancock's  wharf  from 
Madeira.  The  authorities  decided  to  seize  the  vessel, 
claiming  that  a  part  of  her  cargo  had  been  smuggled 
ashore  in  defiance  of  the  Custom-house  regulations. 
This  exasperated  the  townspeople,  and  some  of  the 
officials,  including  Joseph  Harrison,  the  Collector, 

199 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

were  maltreated.    An  angry  mob  broke  several  win- 
dows of  John  Williams's  house. 


Hugh  Percy 

THIS  mansion  was  occupied  by  Lord  Percy  from 
the  latter  part  of  August,  1774,  until  the  depar- 
ture of  the  British  troops  in  March,  I776.1  Various 
other  houses  have  been  mentioned  where  he  was  sup- 
posed to  have  lived  during  the  first  two  months  of  his 
sojourn  in  Boston.  These  include  the  residence  of 
Gardiner  Greene  on  Pemberton  Hill,  and  the  Han- 
cock House.  Samuel  A.  Drake,  in  Old  Landmarks  of 
Boston,  states  that  Lord  Percy  resided  for  a  time 
with  the  widow  of  William  Sheafe,  a  former  Col- 
lector. She  kept  a  boarding-house  in  Essex  Street. 

The  Williams  house,  with  its  beautiful  gardens, 
was  one  of  the  most  pretentious  in  that  part  of  the 
Town.  And  its  history  is  of  unusual  interest,  because 
the  list  of  its  owners  and  occupants  includes  so  many 
persons  of  quality  and  distinction.  The  winter  of 
1774-5  was  a  severe  one.  "The  climate  is  ten  times 
more  inconstant  than  in  England,"  Lord  Percy  wrote, 
"for  I  have  been  in  the  Torrid  and  Frigid  Zone  fre- 
quently in  the  space  of  24  hours.  At  some  times  so 

*The  Memorial  History  of  Boston.    Ill,  155. 

20O 


WINTER    STREET    LOTS 

hot  as  scarce  to  bear  my  shirt;  at  others  so  cold  that 
an  additional  blanket  was  scarcely  sufficient." 

While  occupying  the  Williams  house,  Lord  Percy 
was  said  to  have  dispensed  lavish  hospitality  to  the 
British  officers  and  loyalists  of  the  Town. 

The  latter  undoubtedly  fared  well  in  Boston.  A 
French  traveler,  who  was  entertained  by  General 
William  Heath,  wrote  that  the  dinner,  although  sim- 
ple, was  very  good.  There  was  no  wine  on  the  table, 
but  the  traveler  was  regaled  with  excellent  cider, 
and  was  quite  charmed  with  the  "towdy,"  as  he  called 
it.  For  this  classic  beverage,  consisting  of  rum,  sugar 
and  hot  water,  seemed  to  appeal  to  his  fancy. 

Quite  naturally  Percy  did  not  find  the  Boston 
atmosphere  congenial,  although  he  was  said  to  have 
later  become  quite  popular  among  the  citizens.  But 
his  early  impressions  were  not  favorable.  In  a  letter 
to  a  friend  in  England,  written  soon  after  his  arrival 
in  Boston,  he  said :  "The  People  are  the  most  design- 
ing, art  full  Villains  in  the  World.  They  have  not 
the  least  Idea  of  either  Religion  or  Morality." 

In  another  letter  he  described  the  people  as  ex- 
tremely violent  and  wrong-headed;  "so  much  so,"  he 
wrote,  "that  I  fear  we  shall  be  obliged  to  come  to 
extremities  .  .  .  one  thing  I  will  be  bold  to  say, 
which  is,  that  till  you  make  their  committees  of  cor- 

201 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

respondence  and  congresses  with  other  colonies  high 
treason,  you  never  must  expect  perfect  obedience 
from  this  to  the  mother  country.  .  .  .  This  is  the 
most  beautiful  country  I  ever  saw  in  my  life,  and  if 
the  people  were  only  like  it,  we  should  do  very  well. 
Every  thing,  however,  is  as  yet  quiet,  but  they  threaten 
much.  Not  that  I  believe  they  dare  act."  l 

Again,  on  August  10,  1774,  he  said:  "I  am  well 
with  the  people  of  Boston,  even  with  the  Selectmen. 
When  the  people  come  with  complaints,  I  hear  them 
with  patience,  and  if  they  are  just  ones,  I  take  care 
that  they  shall  be  immediately  redressed,  assuring 
them  that  we  are  come  to  protect  the  peaceable  in- 
habitants, not  to  injure  them;  and  that  as  we  are  de- 
termined to  enforce  obedience  to  the  laws  in  other 
people,  we  shall  be  ever  ready  and  desirous  to  be  the 
first  to  obey  them  ourselves." 

In  a  letter  to  his  father,  August  15,  he  wrote:  "I 
have  got  some  tolerable  chaise  horses  from  New 
York.  .  .  .  But  what  I  feel  myself  the  most  com- 
fortable in  acquiring,  is  a  good  house  to  dine  in;  for 
we  are  all  obliged  to  remain  at  other  times,  and  sleep 
in  camp.  By  this  convenience  I  am  enabled  to  ask 
the  officers  of  the  Line,  and  occasionally  the  Gentle- 
men of  the  Country,  to  dine  with  me.  And  as  I  have 
1  The  Memorial  History  of  Boston.  III.  56. 

202 


WINTER   STREET    LOTS 

command  of  the  troops  here,  I  have  always  a  table 
of  12  covers  every  day.  ...  I  have  now  quite  a 
little  army  under  my  command,  5  Regiments  and  22 
pieces  of  cannon,  with  a  proper  number  of  the  Royal 
Corps  of  Artillery  to  work  them."  1 

Earl  Percy  and  his  sturdy  Northumbrian  soldiers 
were  said  to  have  taken  pride  in  braving  the  rigors  of 
New  England's  climate,  by  remaining  in  camp  on  the 
Common  after  the  cold  weather  had  set  in.  As  a 
protection  from  the  wintry  air  they  were  provided 
with  double  tents,  the  intervening  spaces  being 
packed  with  hay. 

The  light  infantry  were  encamped  on  Beacon  Hill, 
and  the  old  South  Church  was  occupied  by  a  squadron 
of  cavalry.  There  were  also  batteries  on  the  Com- 
mon, at  Fort  Hill,  and  on  the  southern  shore  of 
Charles  River,  opposite  Cambridge.2 

Earl  Percy's  father,  the  first  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land (1715-1786),  was  one  of  the  confidential  ad- 
visers of  George  III,  and  a  prominent  supporter  of 
his  Prime  Minister,  John  Stuart  Bute.  He  was  Lord 
Lieutenant  of  Ireland  from  1763  to  1765,  and  after- 
ward Master  of  the  Horse.  In  1764  the  King  ap- 

1  Charles  Knowles  Bolton.    Letters  of  Hugh  Earl  Percy.    Bos- 
ton, 1902. 
'Jared  Sparks.     The  Library  of  American  Biography. 

203 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

pointed  him  ''Vice  Admiral  over  All  America." 

Hugh  Percy,  second  Duke  of  Northumberland 
(1742-1817),  who  commanded  the  brigade,  consist- 
ing of  the  Welsh  Fusiliers  and  other  regiments,  which 
was  sent  to  the  relief  of  Major  Pitcairn  at  Lexington, 
April  19,  1775,  was  at  that  time  thirty-three  years  of 
age.  He  had  served  during  the  Seven  Years'  War, 
under  Prince  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  and  was  pres- 
ent at  the  Battle  of  Minden,  August  ist,  1759.  He 
later  became  an  Aide-de-Camp  to  George  III,  with 
the  rank  of  Colonel.  Earl  Percy  was  made  a  Major- 
General  in  July,  1775,  and  Lieutenant-General  the 
following  year.  He  returned  to  England  in  1777. 

In  1784  he  assumed  command  of  the  Second  Troop 
of  Horse  Grenadier  Guards.  Two  years  later  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  ownership  of  the  ancestral  Percy  estate 
at  Alnwick,  the  county  town  of  Northumberland. 
The  freedom  of  this  borough,  according  to  a  usage 
instituted  by  King  John,  was  obtained  by  passing 
through  a  deep  and  miry  pond,  situated  in  the  Town 
moor,  on  Saint  Mark's  Day.  Percy  had  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  a  good  landlord,  and  was  accustomed 
to  give  frequent  large  entertainments.  Moreover,  he 
was  said  to  have  included  dissenting  ministers  and 
tradespeople  among  his  guests  on  these  occasions. 
He  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey  in  1817,  and 

204 


WINTER    STREET    LOTS 

was  described  as  the  "Most  High,  Puissant  and  Noble 
Prince,  Hugh  Percy;  Duke  and  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land; Lord  Lieutenant  and  Custos  Rotulorum  of  the 
County  of  Northumberland;  Knight  of  the  Most 
Noble  Order  of  the  Garter.  His  son,  Hugh  Percy, 
became  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  was  a  liberal 
patron  of  science. 

During  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  Revo- 
lution, Boston  was  the  most  thriving  town  in  North 
America.  Its  population  in  1770  was  about  20,000. 
Its  name  was  the  most  important  in  British  Colonial 
history.  It  built  ships  as  cheaply  as  any  place  in  the 
world,  and  carried  merchandise  for  other  Colonies, 
maintaining  also  a  considerable  trade  with  foreign 
countries,  and  especially  with  the  West  Indies.1 

As  showing  the  lingering  Puritanical  sentiment  re- 
garding Sunday  observance,  just  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, the  following  communication,  which  was  printed 
in  the  Boston  Gazette  and  Country  Journal,  January 
16,  1775,  may  be  appropriately  given  here: 

"Roxbury,  January  9th,  1775. — Yesterday,  although 
Lord's  Day,  Numbers  of  the  Officers  of  the  Army 
were  Travelling  our  Streets,  (with  Scates  either  hung 
by  their  Sides,  or  open  in  their  Hands)  on  their  way 

1  The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.    Eleventh  edition. 

205 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

to  Jamaica  Pond;  (nearly  five  miles  from  the  Boston 
Court  House)  where  having  arrived,  they  sported 
themselves  in  Scateing  for  Several  Hours  in  open 
View  of  one  of  our  Meeting-Houses,  to  the  great  Dis- 
composure and  Grief  of  the  Pious  and  Weil-Dis- 
posed; and  setting  an  Example  of  Profaneness  and 
Ir religion  before  the  Young,  too  apt  to  be  seduced  by 
such  Examples. 

"But  such  Practises  are  contrary  to  the  Laws  of 
God,  the  Laws  of  this  Province,  and  one  of  the  Arti- 
cles of  War,  with  the  last  of  which  at  least,  it  is  sup- 
posed, those  Gentlemen  are  acquainted. 

"It  is  expected  that  his  Excellency,  Governor 
Thomas  Gage,  to  whom  it  is  said  Complaint  will  be 
made,  will  suppress  such  Profanation  of  the  Sabbath 
in  future,  more  especially  as  his  Excellency  was 
pleased,  not  long  since,  to  issue  a  Proclamation  for 
the  Discouragement  of  Vice  and  Immorality;  which 
surely  he  will  Discountenance  in  those  immediately 
under  his  Command. 

(Signed)  "AN  INHABITANT." 

In  regard  to  the  observance  of  Sunday  in  New 
England  at  an  earlier  period,  it  may  be  appropriate 
to  insert  here  the  following  extract  from  the  Boston 
Town  Records,  August  4,  1712:  "Whereas  the  Jus- 
tices of  the  Peace  and  Selectmen  are  informed  of  fre- 
quent Prophanation  of  the  Lord's  Day  by  Loose, 
vain  persons,  negros,  etc.,  unnecessarily  Travelling  or 

206 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

walking  to  and  from  Boston  and  Roxbury,  with  neg- 
lect of  Attending  the  Publick  Worship  of  God  in 
either  place;  it  is  therefore  ordered  that  the  Consta- 
bles of  and  within  the  Town  of  Boston,  and  every 
of  them  by  Turns,  do  warn  and  appoint  eight  Meet 
and  Sober  persons,  Inhabitants  of  the  said  Town, 
on  Lord's  Dayes  to  Ward  on  the  Neck  or  High- 
way between  Boston  and  Roxbury,  at  some  con- 
venient place  near  the  Line  of  Defence.  Four  of  ye 
said  persons  are  to  give  their  Attendance  there  from 
Seven  of  the  clock  in  the  Morning  until  halfe  an  hour 
after  twelve  at  noon;  and  then  to  be  relieved  by  the 
other  four,  who  are  there  to  continue  upon  Duty 
until  the  Dusk  of  the  evening.  And  such  Constables 
are  to  Examine  all  Passingers,  and  to  Restraine  them 
from  Disporting,  Idle  Walking,  or  unnecessary  travel 
on  ye  Lord's  Day." 

Travelers'  Impressions  of  Boston 

ML'ABBfi  ROBIN,  who  came  to  this  country 
in  1781  with  the  French  troops  under  Count 
Rochambeau,  sent  over  to  reenforce  the  American 
army, remarked  that  the  observance  of  Sunday  in  Bos- 
ton was  very  rigorous,  the  most  innocent  pleasures, 
even,  being  forbidden.  He  wandered  about  the  streets, 

207 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

which  seemed  deserted.  "If,  perchance,  one  meets  a 
friend,"  he  wrote,  "he  does  not  dare  to  stop  and  speak 
to  him.  A  Frenchman,  lodging  with  me,  took  it  into 
his  head  to  play  the  flute ;  the  people  gathered  around, 
and  would  have  committed  some  violence  if  the  land- 
lord had  not  informed  him  of  what  was  passing.  One 
enters  no  house  without  finding  everybody  engaged  in 
reading  the  Bible." 

Jacques  Pierre  Brissot  de  Warville,  a  celebrated 
French  author,  and  Chief  of  the  Girondists,  who 
visited  Boston  in  1788,  thus  wrote  of  the  towns- 
people: "They  unite  simplicity  of  morals  with  that 
French  politeness  and  delicacy  of  manners  which 
render  virtue  more  amiable.  They  are  hospitable  to 
strangers  and  obliging  to  friends.  .  .  .  Music,  which 
their  teachers  formerly  proscribed  as  a  diabolic  art, 
begins  to  make  part  of  their  education.  In  some 
houses  you  hear  the  forte-piano.  .  .  .  Nothing  is 
more  charming  than  an  inside  view  of  a  Church  on 
Sunday.  The  good  cloth  coat  covers  the  man;  cali- 
coes and  chintzes  dress  the  women  and  children.  One 
of  their  principal  pleasures  consists  in  little  country 
parties.  The  principal  expense  of  these  parties  is 
tea.  Punch,  warm  and  cold,  before  dinner,  excellent 
beef,  and  Spanish  and  Bordeaux  wines  cover  their 
tables;  spruce  beer,  excellent  cider  and  Philadelphia 

208 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

porter  precede  the  wines." 

Not  many  years  later,  in  August,  1797,  a  young 
American  traveler,  Robert  Gilmor  of  Baltimore,  who 
made  a  tour  of  New  England,  recorded  some  of  his 
impressions  of  Boston.  "It  is  a  handsome  town,"  he 
wrote,  "filled  with  some  well-built  houses  in  general, 
and  some  very  superb  ones,  though  mostly  of  wood." 
He  criticized  the  streets,  however,  as  being  poorly 
paved  and  without  sidewalks  for  pedestrians.  "The 
weather  here,"  he  continued,  "is  very  uncertain;  in 
the  middle  of  some  days  the  heat  is  intense,  and 
towards  evening  it  becomes  cool  enough  to  change 
the  clothes  of  the  morning.  .  .  .  The  wind  from  the 
North  West  whistles  down  the  streets,  while  my  dress 
is  of  no  avail  against  the  chilliness  of  the  blast.  The 
people  here  don't  seem  to  mind  it,  nor  do  they,  I 
believe,  feel  any  bad  effects  from  such  changes ;  they 
call  it  pleasant,  charming  weather,  and  rise  at  five  in 
the  morning  to  plunge  into  the  cold  bath." 


209 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 


Samuel  Breck 

SAMUEL  BRECK,  the  elder  (1747-1809),  a  mer- 
chant, of  Boston,  was  the  next  owner  of  the  estate, 
which  was  conveyed  to  him  by  John  Williams,  July 
7,  1780,  for  a  consideration  of  twelve  hundred 
guineas.  Samuel  Breck,  Junior,  in  his  Recollections, 
wrote  that  the  mansion  at  that  time  showed  signs  of 
neglect,  "having  been  occupied,  as  I  have  often  heard, 
by  Lord  Percy.  My  father  put  it  in  excellent  repair, 
and  adorned  the  extensive  gardens,  in  the  midst  of 
which  it  stood.  For  a  city  house  the  residence  was 
remarkably  fine,  with  an  acre  of  ground  around  it, 
divided  into  a  flower  and  kitchen  garden.  .  .  .  The 
gardens  were  exposed  to  view  through  a  palisade  of 
great  beauty,  and  were  the  admiration  of  every  one." 
Mr.  Breck,  Senior,  was  described  as  a  "gentleman 
of  the  old  school,  who  was  fond  of  entertaining  dis- 
tinguished strangers."  He  was  a  Vestryman  of 
King's  Chapel,  and  a  member  of  the  General  Court. 
During  the  Revolution  he  was  a  staunch  patriot. 
Soon  after  the  alliance  with  France,  he  received  from 
the  Ministry  of  Louis  XVI  an  appointment  as  general 
agent  in  America  for  the  French  fleet.  In  1792  he 
changed  his  residence  to  Philadelphia.  We  quote 

210 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

again  from  his  son's  Recollections:  "My  father  was 
induced  to  remove  from  Boston  in  consequence  of 
excessive  and  unequal  taxation.  Boston  at  that  time 
had  about  eighteen  thousand  inhabitants.  It  had  no 
watch,  no  lamps  and  no  sidewalks ;  and  yet  they  taxed 
him  because  he  made  a  show  of  great  wealth  by  his 
generous  hospitality  to  strangers." 

In  Philadelphia  Mr.  Breck,  Senior,  served  as  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States. 

Samuel  Breck,  the  younger  (1771-1862),  was  born 
in  Boston.  When  three  years  of  age  he  was  held  in 
the  arms  of  his  nurse,  to  witness  the  Battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  from  some  high  ground  near  his  home,  which 
was  then  in  the  western  part  of  the  Town.  He  at- 
tended the  Public  Latin  School.  When  his  father 
occupied  the  Williams  house  in  1680,  they  became 
residents  of  the  South  End.  He  well  remembered  the 
old  Beacon  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  related  that 
around  that  pole  he  had  engaged  in  many  a  fight  with 
the  boys  of  the  North  End.  In  December,  1782,  he 
was  sent  abroad,  and  for  four  years  attended  a  mili- 
tary academy  at  Soreze,  in  the  south-west  of  France. 
He  returned  to  Boston  in  1787,  and  entered  business 
there  after  another  European  trip  and  his  coming  of 
age.  On  Christmas  Eve,  1795,  he  married  Miss  Jean 

211 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Ross  of  Philadelphia,  and  removed  to  that  city,  fol- 
lowing his  father's  example.  Here,  alongside  the 
River  Schuylkill,  in  the  region  of  the  present  Fair- 
mount  Park,  he  bought  a  fine  estate,  which  he  named 
"Sweetbrier."  Besides  serving  in  the  Senate  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Breck  was  a 
member  of  the  National  House  of  Representatives  at 
Washington  during  four  years. 

John  Andrews,  Merchant 

IN  November,  1794,  the  Winter  Street  corner  estate 
was  bought  by  John  Andrews,  a  hardware  mer- 
chant, who  had  a  store  on  Union  Street.  On  March 
loth,  1790,  the  thanks  of  the  Town  were  given  him 
for  "his  good  services  as  Selectman  a  number  of 
years  past."  In  1792  he  was  appointed  a  member  of 
a  committee  to  take  an  account  of  the  state  of  the 
Town  with  respect  to  the  "Small  Pox."  Mr.  An- 
drews was  one  of  the  merchants  who  remained  in 
Boston  during  the  Siege;  and  soon  after  the  depart- 
ure of  the  British  troops  he  entertained  General 
Washington,  "with  his  lady,"  and  other  officers,  at 
dinner. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  Revolution  Mr.  Andrews 
was  living  in  a  house  on  School  Street,  near  the 

212 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

Cromwell's  Head  Tavern,  whose  site  was  just  above 
the  Old  Corner  Book-Store.  This  house  was  after- 
wards the  residence  of  Dr.  John  Warren.  Mr.  An- 
drews was  described  as  small  of  stature  and  trimly 
attired.  He  wore  white-top  boots,  and  his  hair  was 
powdered.  .  .  . 

At  the  time  of  the  United  States  Direct  Tax  of 
1798  the  corner  lot  of  Mr.  Andrews,  containing  about 
31,000  square  feet  of  land,  with  the  dwelling-house, 
out-kitchen,  barn  and  wood-house,  was  appraised  at 
$12,000.  He  and  others  are  mentioned  as  Proprietors 
of  "ye  Duck  Manufactory,"  by  Frog  Lane,  where 
there  were  two  large  "Spinning  Sheds." 

In  consideration  of  one  dollar,  and  the  benefit  de- 
rived from  widening  Winter  Street,  John  Andrews 
conveyed  to  the  "Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Bos- 
ton," June  2 ist,  1804,  a  strip  of  land  from  the  front 
of  his  garden.  This  strip  was  six  feet  wide,  and  ran 
from  Common  Street  for  two  hundred  and  seven  feet 
along  WTinter  Street. 

Mr.  Edwin  M.  Bacon,  in  his  interesting  volume, 
Rambles  around  Old  Boston,  which  was  published 
after  these  sketches  had  been  written,  refers  to  Mr. 
Andrews  as  having  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  sav- 
ing the  rows  of  fine  trees  which  ornamented  the  Great 
Mall  alongside  Tremont  Street  in  1776,  whereby  he 

213 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

justly  earned  the  gratitude  of  his  fellow-townsmen. 
While  the  British  troops  were  preparing  to  embark, 
they  engaged  in  much  wanton  destruction  of  prop- 
erty. Mr.  Andrews,  in  letters  to  a  friend  at  Philadel- 
phia, has  given  a  vivid  description  of  the  lawlessness 
which  prevailed  in  Boston  at  that  time.  The  soldiers 
had  already  sacrificed  many  trees  on  the  Common  for 
use  as  fuel  during  the  siege,  and  on  the  morning  of 
Evacuation  Day  they  maliciously  cut  down  several  of 
the  largest  trees  on  the  Mall.  At  the  earnest  remon- 
strance of  the  Selectmen,  and  especially  of  John  An- 
drews, one  of  their  number,  General  Howe  forbade 
any  further  vandalism  of  this  nature. 

In  a  letter  dated  August  31,  1774  (Mass.  Histor- 
ical Society's  Proceedings,  volume  8,  1865),  Mr.  An- 
drews wrote  as  follows:  "At  Sun-set  last  evening  I 
amused  myself  with  a  walk  in  the  Mall,  and  could  not 
but  admire  the  subservient  honors  paid  his  Excel- 
lency (Thomas  Gage,  Military  Governor),  being  at- 
tended by  five  or  six  field  officers,  and  two  or  three 
aid-de-camps,  with  eight  orderly  sergeants  at  an 
awful  distance  in  the  rear.  Parading  up  the  street 
from  Sheriff  Greenleaf's,  he  met  with  Squire  Edson 
(a  mere  plow-jogger  to  look  at),  one  of  the  new 
refugee  councilors.  .  .  .  His  Excellency,  after  about 
ten  minutes'  earnest  conversation  with  him,  proceeded 

214 


WINTER    STREET    LOTS 

to  Earl  Piercy's,  who  occupies  a  house  at  the  head  of 
Winter  Street,  belonging  to  Inspector  Williams. 
While  he  went  in,  his  attendants  of  high  and  low 
degree,  stood  in  waiting  at  the  gate,  like  so  many 
menial  slaves." 

William  Phillips 

IN  July,  1815,  Mr.  Andrews  sold  the  estate  to 
William  Phillips,  the  younger,  for  $26,000. 

William  Phillips,  the  elder,  was  one  of  the  leading 
merchants  of  the  Town,  a  Deacon  of  the  Old  South 
Church,  and  a  good  patriot.  He  was  one  of  the  com- 
mittee of  citizens  who  demanded  of  Governor  Hutch- 
inson  that  the  obnoxious  tea  should  be  sent  back  to 
England.  He  was  also  a  State  Senator,  and  the 
owner  of  a  "Distill  House"  in  Boston. 

Hon.  William  Phillips,  the  younger  (1750-1827), 
who  bought  the  Andrews  estate,  was  Lieutenant- 
Go  vernor  of  Massachusetts  for  eleven  years,  during 
the  administrations  of  Governors  Strong  and  Brooks. 
He  was  also  President  of  the  American  Education 
Society  and  of  the  Boston  Dispensary.  In  1773  he 
visited  Great  Britain,  and  returned  on  one  of  the  tea- 
ships.  Lieutenant-Governor  Phillips  was  said  to 
have  been  very  fond  of  retirement.  Yet  he  was 

215 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

highly  esteemed  as  a  public  official. 

It  appears  that  during  Mr.  Andrews's  ownership 
the  old  mansion  became  a  popular  boarding-house. 
Governor  Caleb  Strong  lived  there  during  his  second 
term  (1812-1816),  when  the  house  was  kept  by  a 
Mrs.  Hatch.  And  John  McLean,  the  well-known 
merchant  and  philanthropist,  boarded  there  when 
Mrs.  John  Dexter  was  the  landlady.1 

Not  many  years  after  its  purchase  by  Mr.  Phillips, 
the  old  house  was  taken  down,  and  in  its  stead  a  block 
of  five  4-storied  dwellings  was  built,  fronting  on  Tre- 
mont  Street,  together  with  a  similar  row  of  houses 
facing  Winter  Street. 

Other  Winter  Street  Lots,  Adjoining  the 
Cathedral  Site 

ON  December  29,  1674,  Hudson  Leverett  sold  for 
£40  the  westerly  part  of  his  land,  fronting  on 
the  present  Winter  Street,  and  lying  eastward  of  the 
Leverett  Pasture  corner  lot,  to  John  Man  of  Boston. 
This  lot  had  a  breadth  of  forty  feet  on  Winter  Street, 
and  extended  southerly  one  hundred  feet  to  the  land 
of  John  Wampas.  John  Man  was  an  early  resident 
of  Boston,  and  one  of  the  four  "loaf-bread  bakers" 

1  S.  A.  Drake.     Old  Landmarks  of  Boston,  page  307. 

2l6 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

in  1679.  They  petitioned  the  General  Court  to  permit 
them  to  charge  for  their  bread  a  price  commensurate 
with  the  higher  cost  of  grain.  In  early  English  rec- 
ords the  name  is  generally  written  Man.  Here,  for 
instance,  is  an  extract  from  the  records  of  the  market- 
town  of  Poole,  a  sea-port  of  Dorsetshire:  "I,  John 
Man,  was  marryed  ye  VI  day  of  Auguste,  1525,  yn 
ye  XVII  yere  of  ye  Reyn  of  King  Harry  ye  VIII, 
unto  Elenor  Whytt,  dawther  of  Thomas  Whytt."  At 
about  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  most  of  the  families 
of  this  name  in  America  adopted  the  spelling  Mann. 
In  an  old  Account-Book  kept  by  John  Richards,  the 
Treasurer  of  Harvard  College,  is  this  item :  "July  25, 
1672,  Received  of  John  Man  in  money  £10  pr.  order 
of  mr.  And1"-  Belcher  junr-  for  i  m  Iron  sold  to  said 
Belcher." 

John  Man  sold  his  Winter  Street  lot,  May  16,  1684, 
to  Samuel  White,  a  prominent  house-wright  and 
military  man  of  Weymouth.  He  supplied  much  war 
material  for  the  Colony,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
General  Court.  When  Sir  Edmund  Andros  made  his 
escape  from  the  Castle  in  April,  1689,  Captain  Samuel 
White  of  Weymouth  received  an  order  from  Gov- 
ernor Bradstreet  to  pursue  and  bring  him  back,  which 
he  did.  In  July,  1696,  Governor  Stoughton  appointed 
hhn  a  member  of  a  Committee  to  repair  the  fortifica- 

217 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

tions  in  Boston  Harbor.  Samuel  White  was  also  the 
commander  of  one  of  several  vessels  moored  in  the 
harbor  at  that  time,  "in  line  of  battle,  to  annoy  the 
king's  enemies,  in  case  of  an  attack."  x 

After  having  been  the  owner  of  this  Winter  Street 
lot  for  one  day,  Captain  White  sold  it,  May  17,  1684, 
to  Nathaniel  Oliver,  "white-bread  baker,"  John  Eyre 
and  Joseph  Parsons,  all  of  Boston ;  the  three  sons-in- 
law  of  Captain  Thomas  Brattle.  Of  these,  Nathaniel 
Oliver  became  a  principal  merchant  of  the  town.  He 
was  an  early  member  of  the  Old  South  Church,  but 
joined  the  Brattle  Street  Church  when  it  was 
founded.  Mr.  Oliver  was  a  Representative  from 
Boston  in  1701. 

John  Eyre 

JOHN  EYRE  was  a  son  of  Doctor  Simon  Eyre, 
who  came  from  London  to  America  in  the  ship 
Increase  in  1635,  and  settled  at  Watertown,  but  re- 
moved soon  after  to  Boston.    By  his  Will,  dated  July 
5,  1668,  he  gave  to  his  youngest  son,  John,  all  his 
"booke   manuscripts,   mortars,   scales   and   weights, 
stills,  potts  and  glasses."    John  Eyre  was  a  merchant 
and  a  member  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artil- 
1  The  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  II,  103. 

2l8 


WINTER    STREET    LOTS 

lery  Company.  He  was  also  active  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Old  South  Church,  a  member  of  the  General 
Court,  and  a  Selectman  of  Boston.  Mr.  Eyre  was 
also  a  member  of  the  "Council  for  the  Safety  of  the 
People  and  Conservation  of  the  Peace"  in  1689.  In 
the  Diary  of  John  Marshall  he  is  described  as  "a  godly 
and  choice-spirited  man." 

Joseph  Parsons  was  a  merchant  of  Boston.  He 
was  admitted  a  freeman  in  1690,  and  was  a^member 
of  the  patriotic  Council  of  War  for  the  overthrow  of 
Andros. 


Thomas  Brattle 

THOMAS  BRATTLE,  who  was  the  owner  of  a 
portion  of  this  land  in  1681  (Suffolk  Deeds, 
XIII,  385),  was  one  of  the  principal  merchants  of 
Boston,  and  was  accounted  the  richest  man  in  the 
Colony.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Artillery  Company, 
and  the  owner  of  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  wilder- 
ness, along  the  banks  of  the  Kennebec  and  Merrimac 
Rivers.  Some  of  this  land  he  acquired  from  the 
Indians.  He  was  active  in  Philip's  War,  and  was  the 
commander  of  several  expeditions  against  the  hostile 
tribes.  He  was  appointed  Cornet  of  the  Suffolk 

219 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Troop  in  1670,  and  afterward  became  its  Com- 
mander. .  .  . 

Thomas  Brattle,  Junior,  was  a  Harvard  graduate, 
class  of  1676,  and  later  served  as  Treasurer  of  the 
college  for  twenty  years.  He  was  the  principal 
founder  of  Brattle  Street  Church,  which  received 
from  him  the  first  organ  used  in  public  worship  in 
New  England.  From  him,  too,  Brattle  Street  derives 
its  name.  Chief  Justice  Sewall  wrote  in  his  Diary 
that  Thomas  Brattle,  the  younger,  was  by  birth  and 
education  a  "Gentleman  of  the  first  order  in  the  Coun- 
try." He  had  a  marked  taste  for  Science,  and  was  a 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  to  which  he 
communicated  Papers  on  astronomical  subjects.  He 
was,  moreover,  a  liberal  patron  of  letters  and  learn- 
ing.1 

In  the  Settlement  of  the  Estate  of  Captain  Thomas 
Brattle,  October  15,  1685  (Suffolk  Deeds,  XVI,  64), 
his  three  sons-in-law  made  a  tripartite  Agreement  or 
Indenture,  whereby  Joseph  Parsons  received  as  his 
portion  this  Winter  Street  lot,  which  included  the 
dwelling-house  "situate  at  the  southerly  end  of  the 
Town  of  Boston,  neer  unto  the  Comon  or  Trayning 
Field,  with  all  the  land  belonging  unto  the  same;  in 

1  The  Memorial  History  of  Boston,    IV.    491. 

22O 


WINTER    STREET    LOTS 

the  present  tenure  and  occupation  of  John  Marion 
Junior." 

His  father  was  a  cordwainer,  who  settled  first  at 
Watertown,  but  removed  to  Boston  before  1652.  He 
was  admitted  to  freedom  that  year,  and  later  was  one 
of  the  Selectmen.  John  Marion,  Junior,  served  in  a 
like  capacity  for  eighteen  years,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  influential  citizens.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  First  Church  of  Christ  in  Boston, 
April  2,  1713,  Deacon  John  Marion  was  chosen  one 
of  the  "Seators"  of  the  new  meeting-house,  and  the 
disposal  of  seats  and  pews  was  left  to  his  prudence 
and  discretion. 

By  permission  of  "the  Major  part  of  the  Justices 
within  the  Town  of  Boston,"  Deacon  Marion  and 
others  were  authorized  "to  erect  a  timber  dwelling- 
house  for  the  ministry  in  Summer  Street  at  the  South 
End  of  the  Town." 

Hudson Leverett  transferred  the  easterly  portion  of 
his  Winter  Street  land,  January  7,  1674,  to  Ebenezer 
Hayden,  "Slae-maker."  He  was  a  resident  of  Brain- 
tree,  and  the  name  of  Abinezer  Heiden  appears  more 
than  once  in  the  records  of  that  town.  Mr.  Hayden 
was  impressed  as  a  trooper  during  Philip's  War,  and 
also  served  as  a  member  of  a  Company  under  the  com- 

221 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

mand  of  Captain  Thomas  Brattle. 

Josiah  Willard  was  a  resident  on  this  estate  in 
1724.  He  was  a  son  of  the  Reverend  Samuel  Willard, 
pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church;  a  graduate  of  Har- 
vard, Class  of  1698.  In  June,  1717,  King  George  I 
appointed  him  Secretary  of  the  Province,  and  he  held 
that  office  for  thirty-nine  years. 

James  Fosdick 

A  SUBSEQUENT  owner  was  James  Fosdick, 
who  made  his  home  on  this  estate  in  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century.1  He  was  a  descend- 
ant of  Stephen  Fosdick,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Charlestown;  and  a  grandson  of  Samuel  Fosdick, 
who  was  a  captain  in  Philip's  War.  The  wife  of 
Samuel  Fosdick  was  Mercy  Pickett,  a  great-grand- 
daughter of  Elder  William  Brewster,  one  of  the  Pil- 
grim Fathers.  James  Fosdick's  "Double  House  on 
Winter  Street"  was  appraised  at  £333  in  1776.  In 
the  partition  of  his  estate,  April  16,  1779,  the  westerly 
tenement,  "with  a  privilege  to  the  pump  in  the  east- 

JOn  April  thirteenth,  1721,  James  Fosdick  of  Boston  received 
from  the  Town  authorities  a  permit  "to  erect  with  timber  a 
Building  for  a  Dwelling-house,  39  feet  in  length,  and  19  feet  in 
width,  at  the  upper  end  of  Winter  Street,  near  the  Common,  in 
the  Room  of  an  old  Timber  Building  where  he  now  dwells;  on 
condition  that  he  pulls  down  the  said  old  Building." 

222 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

erly  division/'  was  set  off  to  the  heirs  of  John  Fos- 
dick.  The  easterly  tenement  was  assigned  to  the 
heirs  of  Thomas  Fosdick. 

Thomas  Pons,  a  goldsmith  and  optician,  became 
the  owner  of  a  part  of  this  estate  in  1780.  His  name 
appears  in  a  list  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  ten 
years  later,  and  according  to  the  United  States  Direct 
Tax  of  1798,  Thomas  Pons  was  occupying  a  house  on 
the  present  Washington  Street,  near  Summer  Street. 
A  person  of  the  same  name,  hailing  from  Marble- 
head,  served  during  the  Revolutionary  War  as  a 
member  of  Colonel  Jabez  Hatch's  regiment.  And  in 
1777  he  was  engaged  in  guarding  military  stores  in 
and  around  Boston. 

Luke  Baker,  who  was  the  next  proprietor  and  occu- 
pant, was  a  merchant,  whose  place  of  business  was 
on  Cornhill,  then  a  part  of  Washington  Street.  He 
bought  the  house  and  lot  from  Thomas  Pons,  May 
13,  1789,  for  $400.  Luke  Baker  had  served  in  the 
army  as  a  private  in  "General  John  Hancock's  Inde- 
pendent Company,"  under  the  command  of  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Henry  Jackson,  and  took  part  in  the 
campaign  in  Rhode  Island  during  the  Spring  of  1777. 
In  the  early  Boston  directories  he  is  styled  a  shop- 
keeper, with  residence  at  No.  10  Winter  Street.  On 
March  3ist,  1807,  Luke  Baker  sold  his  home-lot  to 

223 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

George  Trott,  Junior,  and  John  Bumstead ;  and  within 
a  few  months  thereafter  the  former  became  sole 
owner  of  the  estate,  which  he  retained  until  after 
Saint  Paul's  Church  was  built. 

His  father  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  militia  and 
fourth  sergeant  of  the  Artillery  Company.  In  May, 
1776,  George  Trott,  Senior,  was  chosen  by  the  House 
of  Representatives  Major  of  an  Artillery  Company, 
which  was  raised  for  the  defense  of  Boston,  and  was 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Thomas 
Crafts.  The  name  of  George  Trott,  Senior,  tobac- 
conist and  truss-maker,  with  residence  on  South  Ben- 
net  Street,  appears  in  the  Town  Directory  of  1769. 
In  that  of  1816,  George  Trott,  probably  the  younger, 
a  merchant,  was  living  at  No.  10  Winter  Street. 

John  Goodwin 

JOHN  GOODWIN,  a  brick-mason,  was  the  owner 
of  a  lot  on  the  south  side  of  Blott's  Lane,  now  Win- 
ter Street,  and  near  the  Common,  in  1695.  He  and 
his  wife  Martha  were  for  some  years  members  of 
the  Reverend  Charles  Morton's  church  in  Charles- 
town.  Later  they  were  received  into  the  Second  or 
North  Church  of  Boston,  whereof  the  Reverend  Cot- 
ton Mather  was  then  pastor.  In  1688  their  four  chil- 

224 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

dren  showed  symptoms  of  an  acute  nervous  disorder, 
probably  Saint  Vitus's  dance.  As  this  occurred  dur- 
ing the  period  of  the  witchcraft  delusion  in  Boston, 
it  was  popularly  believed  to  be  due  to  diabolical  agen- 
cies, and  a  poor  woman  named  Goody  Glover  was 
charged  with  having  bewitched  the  children,  and  was 
executed  therefor.  This  celebrated  case  occasioned 
much  consternation  in  the  town.  It  is  described  at 
length  in  Cotton  Mather's  Memorable  Providences, 
and  by  other  writers  of  the  period.  The  Reverend 
Joshua  Moody,  minister  of  the  First  Church,  ex- 
pressed the  public  sentiment  wThen  he  wrote  that  the 
townspeople  could  not  but  think  that  the  Devil  had  a 
hand  in  this  case.  The  Goodwin  children  had  been 
carefully  trained  and  bore  good  characters.  T1iey 
all  recovered,  and  lived  to  mature  age.  John  Good- 
win was  described  as  "a  grave  man,  and  a  good  liver." 
He  held  some  minor  town  offices,  including  that  of 
"Surveighor  of  Chimneys"  in  1695. 

The  Reverend  Samuel  Willard 

AMONG  the  prominent  citizens  of  Boston  who 
were  owners  of  lots  in  Blott's  Lane,  adjacent  to 
the  Cathedral  site,  was  the  Reverend  Samuel  Wil- 
lard.   His  father,  Major  Simon  Willard,  a  native  of 

225 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Horsmonden,  Kent,  England,  came  to  these  shores 
about  the  year  1634,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  Concord,  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  General  Court  for  many  years.  In  1642  he  was 
appointed  surveyor  of  arms,  and  "to  exercise  the  mili- 
tary company  at  Concord."  Later  he  was  chosen 
Sergeant-major  of  Middlesex.  After  a  residence  of 
twelve  years  at  Lancaster,  he  removed  to  Groton, 
about  1672.  During  Philip's  War  he  was  active  in 
providing  for  the  defense  of  the  frontier  towns 
against  the  Indians. 

Samuel  Willard  (1640-1707)  was  a  native  of  Con- 
cord, Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1659, 
and  became  a  freeman  in  1670.  He  began  preaching 
at  Groton  four  years  later.  The  first  church  in  that 
town  was  organized  in  1662,  and  Mr.  Willard  was 
its  first  minister.  Until  a  meeting-house  was  built, 
two  years  afterward,  the  people  assembled  at  his 
house  for  worship.  He  continued  in  the  ministry  at 
Groton  until  the  destruction  of  the  town  by  the  In- 
dians, and  the  consequent  dispersion  of  the  church 
there,  March  13,  1676.  He  then  came  to  Boston  and 
was  installed  as  colleague  of  the  Reverend  Thomas 
Thacher,  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church.  He  was 
appointed  Vice-President  of  Harvard  College  in 
1701.  The  Reverend  Samuel  Willard  was  a  prolific 

226 


WINTER    STREET    LOTS 

writer  and  an  eloquent  preacher.  John  Dunton,  the 
English  author  and  bookseller,  who  visited  Boston  in 
1686,  wrote  of  Mr.  Willard  as  follows:  "He's  well 
furnished  with  Learning  and  solid  Notion;  has  a 
Natural  fluency  of  speech,  and  can  say  what  he 
pleases.  ...  I  darken  his  Merits  if  I  call  him  less 
than  a  Walking  Library." 

Mr.  Willard  had  twenty-one  children  by  his  two 
wives:  Abigail  Sherman,  a  descendant  of  Lord 
Thomas  Darcy,  Earl  of  Rivers;  and  Eunice,  daugh- 
ter of  Edward  Tyng,  of  Boston. 

Giles  Dyer,  Deputy  Collector 

IN  the  year  1717,  Giles  Dyer,  Gentleman,  of  Bos- 
ton, bought  of  Thomas  and  Samuel  Banister,  mer- 
chants, a  lot  on  Winter  Street,  with  dwelling-houses 
thereon,  adjacent  to  the  present  Church  property. 
Mr.  Dyer's  name  first  appears  on  the  town  records, 
February  23,  1673,  when  he  was  chosen  block-keeper. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen,  March  29,  1680,  there 
was  allowed  Giles  Dyer  towards  setting  up  the  clock 
at  the  North  Meeting-House,  £5 ;  "and  for  keepinge 
of  both  Clockes  in  good  order  and  attendinge  at  ye  old 
Meeting-house  4  yeares,  £24;  and  y*  at  ye  north  end 
since  it  was  last  set  up,  £11."  Mr.  Dyer  seems  to 

227 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

have  been  a  skilled  artisan,  whose  services  were  in 
demand ;  but  he  does  not  appear  to  have  had  the  bene- 
fit of  a  university  education.  Following  is  a  copy 
of  a  bill  which  he  presented  to  the  officers  of  King's 
Chapel:  "To  my  Labour  for  Making  the  Wather 
Cock  and  Spindel;  to  Duing  the  Commandements, 
and  Winders;  mor  to  Duing  the  gallerey  and  the 
King's  Armes,  fortey  pounds,  which  I  freely  give." 

In  later  years  Mr.  Dyer  held  important  positions 
in  the  community.  Besides  serving  as  a  vestryman 
and  warden  of  King's  Chapel,  he  attained  the  rank 
of  Colonel  in  the  militia,  and  became  Sheriff  of  Suf- 
folk County.  He  was  also  Deputy  Collector  of  his 
Majesty's  Customs,  and  a  Selectman  of  Boston.  In 
1702  he  was  appointed  one  of  a  committee  of  three 
to  provide  thirty  hundred-weight  of  bullets  and  five 
thousand  flints  for  a  Town  stock;  and  in  1711  he 
served  on  another  committee  whose  members  were 
charged  with  the  duty  of  making  a  "line  of  Defence 
across  the  Neck  between  Boston  and  Roxbury." 

The  Lot  on  the  Westerly  Corner  of 
Winter  Street  and  Winter  Place 

THIS  lot  was  a  part  of  the  possessions  of  Robert 
Blott,  who  owned  a  tract  extending  from  John 
Leverett's  pasture  land  easterly  for  276  feet  to  the 

228 


WINTER    STREET    LOTS 

highway,  now  Washington  Street,  where  it  had  a 
frontage  of  140  feet.1  He  came  to  Boston  within  a 
few  years  after  its  settlement.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
Selectmen,  March  29,  1658,  Robert  Blott  was  ap- 
pointed to  "keepe  the  sheepe"  during  that  year,  and 
it  was  ordered  that  the  owners  of  all  sheep  which 
were  kept  on  the  Common  should  deliver  them  to  the 
said  shepherd,  and  if  any  owner  should  fail  to  do  this 
he  was  required  to  pay  two-pence  "for  every  sheepe 
to  the  shepheard  for  every  dayes  transgression." 
Two  years  later  Mr.  Blott  was  chosen  Cow-keeper. 

His  real  estate,  including  the  Winter  Place  lot,  was 
inherited  by  his  daughter  Sarah,  who  married  Ed- 
ward Ellis,  a  chirurgeon. 

Doctor  Edward  Ellis 

DR.  EDWARD  ELLIS,  a  native  of  Wales,  mar- 
ried Sarah  Blott  in  Boston,  August  6,  1652,  and 
was  one  of  the  early  practitioners  of  the  Town.     In 
the  Colonial  Records  there  is  to  be  found  "An  accompt 
of  what  is  due  Edward  Ellis  for  the  cure  of  Robert 
Munson  and  Geremiah  Bumsted;  the  said  Ellis  being 
imploid  therein  by  order  of  the  Counsell,  13  Novem- 
ber, 1670. 
1  Gleaner  Articles.    No.  6. 

229 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

IT.     for  curing  Robert  Munson,  his  arm  being  broke, 
and  his  hand  being  wounded  by  shot ;  in  money  £3. 
IT.     For  curing  Gerimyah  Bumsted,  in  money,  £6." 

Dr.  Edward  Ellis  and  his  wife  Sarah  had  ten  chil- 
dren. Robert  Ellis,  their  ninth  child,  was  appointed 
"chirurgeon  for  the  Expedition  to  Port  Royal," 
August  19,  1710.  He  became  sole  owner  of  the  estate, 
as  is  shown  by  his  will,  which  was  proved  in  1720. 

The  name  of  Edward  Ellis  appears  in  a  list  of  more 
than  a  hundred  of  the  "Handycraftsmen"  of  Boston 
who  petitioned  the  General  Court  in  May,  1677,  for 
protection  in  their  several  callings.  They  complained 
of  finding  themselves  at  a  disadvantage  owing  to  the 
frequent  intrusions  of  "strangers  from  all  parts,  espe- 
cially such  as  are  not  desirably  qualified  .  .  .  and 
many  times  the  stranger  drawes  away  much  of  the 
custome  from  his  neighbour;  whereby  it  has  come  to 
pass  that  several  inhabitants  that  have  lived  comfort- 
ably upon  their  trades,  cannot  subsist,  which  is  very 
pernicious  and  prejudicial  to  the  Town."  The  Court 
appointed  a  Committee  to  look  into  the  matter,  but 
their  report  does  not  appear  to  have  been  placed  on 
record. 

Samuel  Banister  appears  to  have  been  the  next  pro- 
prietor, although  no  deed  to  him  is  recorded.  He 
was  the  second  son  of  Thomas  Banister,  who  be- 

230 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

came  the  owner  of  a  part  of  the  original  home-lot  of 
William  Blackstone  on  the  western  slope  of  Beacon 
Hill.  This  property  was  known  as  "Banister's  Gar- 
dens." Thomas  Banister  was  a  vestryman  of  King's 
Chapel.  He  was  also  one  of  several  gentlemen  who 
were  empowered  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  Society 
for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  New  England  and  the 
parts  adjacent,  in  the  year  1704. 

Samuel  Banister  sold  his  house  and  land,  August 
26,  1729,  to  Peter  Luce  of  Boston,  merchant,  for 
£650.  Mr.  Luce  was  also  a  vestryman  of  King's 
Chapel,  and  a  subscriber  to  the  fund  which  was  raised 
in  1730,  when  the  first  steps  were  taken  for  the  for- 
mation of  Trinity  Church. 

Mr.  Luce  owned  the  estate  for  eighteen  years,  and 
sold  it,  August  30,  1747,  to  Sylvester  Gardiner,  of 
Boston. 

Doctor  Sylvester  Gardiner 

OYLVESTER  GARDINER  (1717-1786)  was  a 

^native  of  South  Kingston,  Rhode  Island.  He  was 
a  great-grandson  of  Joseph  Gardiner  (one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Narragansett),  and  the  fourth  child 
of  William  Gardiner.  He  had  his  early  schooling 
in  Boston,  and  then  devoted  eight  years  to  the  study 
of  Medicine  in  London  and  Paris.  Returning  to 

231 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

Boston,  he  at  once  became  prominent  as  an  accom- 
plished physician  and  surgeon.  Dr.  Gardiner  had 
also  an  apothecary  shop  on  Marlborough,  now  a  part 
of  Washington  Street,  at  the  Sign  of  the  Unicorn. 

In  1750  he  gave  public  notice  that  he  had  on  hand 
and  for  sale  a  large  stock  of  the  freshest  and  best 
of  all  kinds  of  Drugs  and  Medicines ;  and  that  he  was 
prepared  to  furnish  physicians  and  apothecaries  in 
Town  and  Country  with  whatever  they  might  need  in 
the  line  of  their  Professions. 

The  physicians  of  the  New  England  Colonies  de- 
pended chiefly  upon  this  establishment  for  their  med- 
ical supplies.  In  the  autumn  of  1745  the  Town  Clerk 
of  Boston  was  ordered  by  the  Selectmen  to  issue  a 
warrant  directed  to  the  Constables,  requiring  them  in 
his  Majesty's  name  to  warn  all  the  citizens  of  the 
Town  to  convene  at  Faneuil  Hall,  in  order  to  consider 
a  Petition  signed  by  a  large  number  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, praying  that  some  measures  be  taken  to  prevent 
Doctor  Sylvester  Gardiner's  having  a  "Hospital 
House  in  said  Town  (as  he  purposes),  for  the  Re- 
ception of  Persons  sick  of  Epidemical  and  Infectious 
Diseases." 

It  appears,  however,  that  Dr.  Gardiner  received 
permission  to  build  such  a  hospital,  which  he  main- 
tained for  many  years.  .  .  . 

232 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

At  a  Town  meeting,  March  9,  1757,  Dr.  Gardiner 
presented  a  petition  that  the  Town  would  lease  to  him 
for  the  term  of  thirty-three  years  "the  marsh  or 
sunken  lands  at  the  bottom  of  the  Common,  upon  the 
terms  he  therein  proposes,  vizt,  that  he  will  Damm 
out  the  Sea  From  such  Marsh  and  Lands,  so  that 
the  whole  may  become  dry  and  good  Ground,  the 
Town  allowing  him  to  Set  the  Fence  near  the  Brow 
of  the  Hill,  adjoyning  to  said  marsh,  running  From 
South  to  North,  and  across  a  little  Ridge  or  Hill  that 
divides  the  north  part  of  the  Marsh  from  a  Sunken 
pond  below  the  powder  house."1 

This  petition  was  at  first  dismissed,  but  was  after- 
ward granted;  and  the  tract  described  was  leased  to 
Dr.  Gardiner  on  the  terms  above  mentioned.  This 
land  appears  to  have  extended  from  the  present  Park 
Square  northerly,  and  to  have  included  a  considera- 
ble part  of  the  so-called  Parade  Ground  of  the  Com- 
mon.2 

Dr.  Gardiner  served  as  a  vestryman  and  warden 
of  King's  Chapel  during  a  period  of  about  forty 
years.  Having  greatly  prospered  in  his  profession, 
and  having  acquired  a  large  fortune,  he  began  to 

'This  was  built  about  1706  on  the  hill,  where  the  Soldiers' 
Monument  stands. 

1  Town  Records,  May  12,  1752. 

233 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

make  investments  in  real  estate,  and  gradually  ac- 
quired immense  tracts  of  land  in  Maine,  which  was 
then  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  and  especially  in  the 
region  of  the  Kennebec  River.  He  owned  at  one 
time  no  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  acres.  To 
him  belongs  the  credit  of  founding,  in  1760,  the  pres- 
ent city  of  Gardiner,  where  he  built  an  Episcopal 
Church,  many  dwelling-houses,  and  several  mills. 
This  settlement  in  its  early  years  bore  the  name  of 
Gardinerston. 

Dr.  Gardiner's  house  in  Boston  was  frequented  by 
the  most  prominent  people  of  the  town.  At  the  out- 
break of  the  Revolution,  his  sympathies  were  with  the 
mother  country.  He  was  one  of  the  large  number  of 
Loyalists,  who  accompanied  the  British  troops  on  their 
departure  from  Boston,  March  17,  1776;  and  his 
name  appears  in  the  list  of  those  who  were  formally 
proscribed  as  enemies  of  the  new  State,  in  1778.  His 
property  was  confiscated,  and  much  of  it  was  sold  at 
public  auction.  Dr.  Gardiner  spent  some  years  at 
Poole,  Dorset,  England,  but  returned  to  America,  and 
made  his  home  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island. 

Under  an  "Act  to  provide  for  the  payment  of  Debts 
due  from  the  Conspirators  and  Absentees,  and  for 
the  recovery  of  debts  due  to  them,"  Richard  Cranch 
and  Samuel  Henshaw,  being  the  major  part  of  the 

234 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

Committee  authorized  to  sell  the  Estates  of  said  Con- 
spirators and  Absentees,  and  to  give  good  and  suffi- 
cient Deeds  to  the  purchasers  in  the  name  and  behalf 
of  the  Commonwealth,  conveyed  to  John  Boies  of 
Boston,  merchant,  October  26,  1782,  a  parcel  of  real 
estate  formerly  the  property  of  Sylvester  Gardiner, 
•Esq.,  Absentee,  for  the  sum  of  £800." 

This  estate  had  a  frontage  of  about  51  feet  on 
Winter  Street,  and  a  depth  of  66  feet.  It  was  bounded 
on  the  west  by  land  of  John  R.  Sigourney,  and  on  the 
south  and  east  by  land  of  Doctor  John  Sprague. 

John  Boies 

MR.  BOIES  was  probably  near  of  kin  to  Jere- 
miah Smith  Boies,  who  became  the  owner  of 
a  portion  of  the  Leverett  Pasture  lot  in  1791,  as  else- 
where mentioned.  The  name  was  originally  Du 
Boyce,  and  belonged  to  a  French  Huguenot  family, 
one  of  whose  members,  the  progenitor  of  the  Boies 
family  in  America,  fled  to  Scotland  to  avoid  religious 
persecution.  Thence  he  went  to  Ireland,  and  later 
came  to  this  country. 

John  Boies  established  a  paper  mill  at  the  upper 
Fall  of  the  Charles  River  in  Waltham  about  the 
year  1785.  The  site  of  the  mill  and  its  surroundings 

235 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

were  very  picturesque,  and  the  region  was  known  as 
Eden  Vale. 

In  the  Autumn  of  1795  Mr.  Boies  produced  paper 
which  was  made  of  potato  vines;  and  this  was  said 
to  have  been  the  first  attempt  to  make  paper  out  of  a 
vegetable  substance  in  Massachusetts.  John  Boies 
sold  his  manufacturing  interests  in  Waltham  to  the 
Boston  Manufacturing  Company,  who  erected  their 
first  cotton-mill  on  the  site  of  the  old  paper-mill  in 
1813;  and  in  this  mill  the  power-loom  was  used  for 
the  first  time  in  America.  The  successful  introduc- 
tion and  employment  of  the  power-loom  in  England 
dates  from  about  the  same  period.1 

Samuel  Adams,  Patriot 

AFTER  owning  the  estate  about  two  years,  Mr. 
Boies  sold  it,  in  the  year  1784,  for  £1000,  to  the 
eminent  patriot,  Samuel  Adams,  one  of  the  signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  afterward 
Governor  of  Massachusetts.     Mr.  Adams  had  been 
forced  by  the  exigencies  of  the  troublous  ante-Rev- 
olutionary period  to  retire  with  his   family  to  the 
country,  abandoning  his  house  on  Purchase  Street. 
During  the  Siege  of  Boston,  that  house  became  the 

1  The  Memorial  History  of  Boston.    IV.  84. 

236 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

abode  of  British  officers.  And  when,  after  the  Evac- 
uation in  the  early  Spring  of  1776,  Mr.  Adams  sought 
to  reoccupy  his  home,  which  was  also  his  birth-place, 
it  was  found  to  be  uninhabitable.  The  interior  had 
been  wantonly  mutilated.  Blasphemous  writings  had 
been  cut  in  the  window-panes,  doors  had  been  un- 
hinged and  burned  for  fuel,  and  evidences  of  van- 
dalism were  everywhere  apparent.  For  several  years 
thereafter  the  Adams  family  lived  in  retirement  at 
Dedham. 

The  mansion  on  the  corner  of  Winter  Place  was 
a  substantial,  three-storied,  wooden  and  brick  struc- 
ture, which  was  still  standing  when  Saint  Paul's 
Church  was  built  in  1820.  Its  clapboard  sides  had 
been  painted  yellow,  but  had  become  shabby  and 
weather-beaten.  The  oaken  front  door  was  adorned 
with  a  brass  knocker.  The  windows  of  the  lower 
story  were  within  two  feet  of  the  ground.  Over 
the  arch  of  the  front  entrance  was  a  large  bow-win- 
dow. The  windows  were  mostly  small,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  statistics  of  the  United  States  Direct  Tax 
of  1798,  there  were  thirty- two  of  them.  The  houses 
above  and  below,  on  the  south  side  of  Winter  Street, 
were  similar  in  appearance,  except  that  there  were 
several  small  shops,  one  of  which,  adjoining  Mr. 
Adams's  house  on  the  west,  was  a  bakery.  In  The 

237 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  by  William  V.  Wells  (III, 
333),  we  find  a  description  of  the  Adams  home,  as 
follows : 

"In  the  rear  of  the  residence  was  a  paved  court- 
yard, and  a  garden  adorned  with  flowers  and  shrub- 
bery. The  interior  was  a  model  of  neatness  and 
thrifty  house-keeping.  The  front  door  opened  into 
a  broad  entry,  from  which  a  staircase  with  heavily- 
capped,  twisted  banisters  led  to  the  upper  stories,  and 
terminated  near  a  bow-window  on  the  second  land- 
ing. There  were  two  parlors,  one  of  them  being  used 
by  Mr.  Adams  as  a  sitting-room  and  library,  and  here 
he  was  wont  to  receive  his  more  intimate  friends." 

Tremont  Street  at  that  time  was  paved  in  the  mid- 
dle only  with  cobble-stones  procured  from  the  neigh- 
boring beach.  And  this  pavement  was  used  by  pe- 
destrians and  the  drivers  of  vehicles  alike.  Nothing, 
it  has  been  said,  better  illustrates  Boston's  develop- 
ment than  the  evolution  of  Tremont  Street  from  a 
series  of  narrow,  crooked  lanes  and  cow-paths  to  a 
metropolitan  thoroughfare.  .  .  . 

Many  volumes  containing  old  tax-lists,  beginning 
with  the  year  1780,  are  kept  in  the  basement  of  the 
Boston  City  Hall  Annex.  Under  the  heading  "oc- 
cupation," some  interesting  particulars  are  given 
about  tax-payers.  The  list  for  1780  was  printed  in 

238 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

the  ninth  volume  of  the  Bostonian  Society's  Publica- 
tions. In  the  volume  for  1790  Samuel  Adams  is 
named  as  a  "worthy  of  1775,"  and  Sheriff  Stephen 
Greenleaf  as  an  "old  Gentleman." 

Isaiah  Thomas,  Printer 

ISAIAH  THOMAS  (1749-1831)  was  the  proprie- 
tor of  an  estate  on  the  south  side  of  Winter  Street, 
east  of  the  home  of  Samuel  Adams.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Boston;  the  son  of  Moses  and  Fidelity  (Grant) 
Thomas.  His  father  was  through  life  a  "rolling- 
stone,"  having  been  successively  a  soldier,  mariner, 
trader,  farmer  and  school-master.  The  son  used  to 
say  that  his  early  education  consisted  of  six  weeks' 
schooling  and  no  more.  When  seven  years  of  age 
he  was  apprenticed  to  Zachariah  Fowle,  a  Salem 
Street  printer,  who  sold  small  books  and  ballads  on 
the  highways,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  days.  Mr. 
Fowle  agreed  to  instruct  his  apprentice  in  "the  art 
and  mystery  of  a  printer,"  and  he  had  ample  oppor- 
tunities for  so  doing,  inasmuch  as  their  association 
was  maintained  for  eleven  years.  At  the  age  of  about 
eighteen  Isaiah  Thomas  set  out  to  seek  his  fortune, 
and  obtained  employment  in  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia; 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  Charleston,  S.  C.  He  then 

239 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

returned  to  Boston,  and  having  become  of  age,  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Fowle,  his  former 
master,  in  1770;  and  the  new  firm  began  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Massachusetts  Spy.  Zachariah  Fowle 
soon  retired  from  the  partnership,  and  Mr.  Thomas 
continued  to  print  and  edit  the  Spy,  which  became  a 
leading  upholder  of  Whig  principles,  and  was  there- 
fore hostile  to  the  government.  Shortly  before  the 
opening  of  the  Revolution,  Mr.  Thomas  removed  his 
printing  office  to  Worcester,  where  he  continued  to 
publish  the  Spy,  with  some  intermissions,  for  many 
years.  Returning  to  Boston  in  1788,  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  Ebenezer  T.  Andrews,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Thomas  and  Andrews.  Mr.  Thomas 
was  the  author  of  a  History  of  Printing.  He  was 
the  founder  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society, 
and  its  President  for  many  years. 

Ebenezer  Turell  Andrews  (1766-1851)  owned  the 
house,  Number  15  Winter  Street,  and  lived  there  for 
about  twenty-five  years.  In  his  youth  he  was  ap- 
prenticed to  Isaiah  Thomas,  printer,  then  of  Worces- 
ter, and  for  several  years  was  an  inmate  of  the  lat- 
ter's  household,  as  was  the  custom  for  apprentices  in 
those  days.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  partnership  with  Mr.  Thomas,  and  their 
firm  became  well  known  throughout  the  country.  Mr. 

240 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

Andrews  was  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  was  con- 
nected with  various  business  enterprises,  being  one 
of  the  incorporators  of  the  New  England  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company.  He  was  also  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  the  Massachusetts  Hospital  Life  Insurance 
Company,  and  of  the  Tremont  Bank.  His  son,  Wil- 
liam Turell  Andrews,  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1812, 
being  then  seventeen  years  of  age.  He  became  Treas- 
urer of  the  College,  and  held  other  positions  of  trust. 

In  January,  1789,  the  firm  of  Thomas  and  An- 
drews began  the  publication  of  the  Massachusetts 
Magazine,  or  Monthly  Museum  of  Knowledge  and 
Rational  Entertainment. 

The  contents  of  this  periodical  were  of  a  miscel- 
laneous character.  For  example,  the  issue  of  Janu- 
ary, 1791,  included  a  biographical  sketch  of  Gover- 
nor Bowdoin;  an  Article  on  Ashes  for  Manure;  Es- 
says on  Generosity  and  Internal  Agreeableness ;  an 
Account  of  the  Creek  Indians;  Story  of  the  Poor  Lit- 
tle Greek;  the  General  Observer  No.  XXI;  Natural 
History  and  Description  of  the  Tyger  Cat  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope;  Vanessa,  or  the  Feast  of  Rea- 
son; the  Bashful  Man;  the  Matrimonial  Creed; 
Franklin's  Parable  against  Persecution ;  On  the  Com- 
parative Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  a  Canal 
from  Barnstable  Bay  to  Buzzard's  Bay;  the  Player 

241 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

and  his  Wife;  the  Wounded  Officer;  Manners,  Sump- 
tuary Laws,  etc.,  of  the  early  Inhabitants  of  New 
England;  Compendium  of  Grecian  Morality;  Disser- 
tation on  the  Causes  and  Effects  of  Spasm  in  Fevers; 
on  Revenge  and  Cruelty;  Description  of  two  Clocks, 
presented  by  the  East  India  Company  to  the  Emperor 
of  China;  Meteorological  Imaginations  and  Conjec- 
tures, by  Dr.  Franklin;  a  Striking  Piece  of  Ancient 
History;  the  Condemned  Prisoner;  Reflections,  ad- 
dressed to  the  Head  and  the  Heart ;  further  Thoughts 
on  Sandwich  Canal  and  the  erection  of  a  Light  House 
at  Clay  Pounds;  Monthly  Review.  Also  an  Ode  on 
the  New  Year,  1791;  Sonnet  to  General  Lincoln; 
Lines  to  Eloisa,  on  her  reading  a  Novel;  Bacchus's 
Shrine ;  Sonnet  to  Cruelia ;  Elegy  on  a  Village  Swain ; 
Lines  on  taking  a  Pansy  from  beneath  the  Snow ;  on 
hearing  a  Lady  sing  Fidelle,  our  Forefathers'  song, 
written  in  1630;  extract  from  the  Zenith  of  Glory; 
Stanzas  inscribed  to  Lord  Dorchester ;  Epigram  on 
reading  a  late  Military  Letter;  and  Rebus. 

Colonel  Samuel  Swett 

ANOTHER  well-known  owner  of  real  estate  in 
this  part  of  Winter  Street  was  Colonel  Samuel 
Swett   (1782-1866),  lawyer,  soldier,  merchant  and 

242 


WINTER    STREET   LOTS 

military  writer.  He  was  a  native  of  Newburyport, 
where  he  attended  a  Grammar  School.  After  gradu- 
ating at  Harvard  in  1800,  he  taught  school  in  Rox- 
bury,  and  later  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Charles  Jackson  in  Boston.  Being  admitted  to  the 
Essex  Bar  in  1804,  he  practised  at  Salem  for  several 
years.  In  1810  he  withdrew  from  his  profession,  be- 
came a  resident  of  Boston,  and  a  partner  in  the  mer- 
cantile firm  of  W.  B.  Swett  and  Company.  He  was 
soon  after  elected  the  first  commander  of  the  New 
England  Guards  and,  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
War  of  1812,  he  served  as  a  topographical  engineer 
on  the  staff  of  Major-General  George  Izard,  being  em- 
ployed along  the  northern  frontier.  In  1820,  when 
Saint  Paul's  Church  was  finished,  Colonel  Swett  was 
an  Aide-de-Camp  on  the  staff  of  Governor  John 
Brooks.  He  married,  in  1807,  Lucia,  daughter  of 
Hon.  William  Gray,  and  had  four  sons  and  a  daugh- 
ter, Lucia  Gray  Swett,  who  married  Francis  Alex- 
ander, a  well-known  portrait-painter.  They  became 
residents  of  Florence,  Italy,  where  Mrs.  Alexander 
was  living  in  the  year  1915,  being  then  one  hundred 
and  one  years  old.  Her  daughter  Francesca  is  an  au- 
thoress, and  a  skilful  delineator  of  Tuscan  peasant 
life.  Her  work  in  this  line  was  warmly  commended 
by  her  friend,  John  Ruskin,  the  noted  art  critic.  Colo- 

243 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

nel  Swett  was  a  vestryman  of  King's  Chapel,  and  a 
member  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery 
Company.  Among  his  more  important  writings  on 
military  subjects  was  an  Account  of  the  Battle  of 
Bunker  Hill. 


Other  Winter  Street  Residents 

AMONG  the  townspeople,  besides  those  already 
mentioned,  who  had  residences  or  places  of  busi- 
ness on  Winter  Street  toward  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  were  John  Fessenden  and  James 
Carter,  school-masters.  The  latter  was  in  charge  of 
the  Free  Writing  School,  afterward  known  as  the 
Centre  Reading  and  Waiting  School,  which  was  at- 
tended by  more  than  four  hundred  scholars. 

In  August,  1796,  Mr.  Carter  received  permission 
from  the  Selectmen  to  accommodate  himself  with  an- 
other house,  and  to  let  his  former  home,  which  was 
"too  small  for  his  growing  family."  Other  residents 
of  Winter  Street  at  this  period  were  William  Donni- 
son,  shop-keeper  and  Adjutant  General;  George  Trott, 
merchant,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Regiment  of  Artillery ;  Ebenezer  Farley,  a  mer- 
chant, and  Samuel  Cobb,  Representative  and  Select- 
man for  several  years.  Of  trades-people  there  were 

244 


WINTER    STREET    LOTS 

quite  a  number,  including  John  Roberts  and  Thomas 
Wilkinson,  chaise-makers;  Wheelock  and  Simmons, 
livery-stable;  Edward  and  Samuel  Russell,  painters; 
Joseph  Snelling,  book-binder;  John  Mills,  house- 
wright;  John  Long,  cabinet-maker;  Frederick  Ockes 
and  William  Laugh  ton,  bakers.  In  1810  John  Chris- 
tian Rauschner,  a  Dane,  occupied  a  house,  number 
two,  on  the  north  side  of  the  street.  He  was  a  mod- 
eler in  wax,  who  attained  marked  distinction  in  his 
specialty.  Rauschner  appears  to  have  been  of  a  rov- 
ing disposition,  and  changed  his  residence  often,  hav- 
ing lived  in  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Salem,  Mas- 
sachusetts, being  occupied  with  his  work  as  an  "artist 
in  wax."  Several  of  his  miniature  portraits  are  in 
the  Essex  Institute  at  Salem ;  others  are  to  be  seen  in 
the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  .  .  .* 

Among  the  residents  above  mentioned  were  two 
bakers.  There  were  no  bread-wagons  in  Boston  in 
those  days.  Loaves  of  bread  were  carried  about  in 
covered  wheel-barrows,  and  were  required  by  law  to 
be  of  a  specified  weight. 

It  was  not  uncommon  for  a  Selectman  to  stop  a 
wheel-barrow,  and  weigh  the  loaves  on  the  spot.  If 
found  to  be  underweight,  they  were  confiscated,  and 

1  Ethel  Stanwood  Bolton.  Wax  Portraits  and  Silhouettes.  Bos- 
ton. 1914. 

245 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

sent  to  the  Alms-house. 

The  writer  of  an  Article  in  the  Farmer's  Almanack, 
May,  1837,  advocated  home-baking,  on  the  score  of 
economy,  as  follows:  "Hark,  'tis  the  jingle  of  the 
baker's  bells;  hot  bread,  who  buys?  Have  a  care 
now,  Mr.  Sweetmouth,  how  you  let  this  bill  run  up! 
Wheat-loaves,  gingerbread,  hot  buns  and  seed-cakes, 
these  are  all  very  clever.  But  there  is  my  Aunt 
Sarah's  brown  bread;  sweet,  pleasant  and  wholesome. 
Don't  give  it  up  for  a  cartload  of  muffins  and  jumbles. 
There  is  no  discount  on  my  Aunt  Sarah's  cooking. 
Give  me  a  plate  of  her  nut-cakes  in  preference  to  all 
the  sweet-meats  of  the  city.  .  .  .  Bread,"  continued 
this  writer,  "is  called  the  staff  of  life,  the  main  sup- 
porting food ;  but  this  important  article  may  come  too 
dear.  Let  your  good  wife,  then,  have  her  own  hands 
in  the  kneading-trough,  nor  heed  too  much  the  music 
of  the  baker's  boy." 

According  to  English  custom,  the  weight,  price  and 
measure  of  certain  marketable  articles  were  deter- 
mined by  ordinance  or  assize,  such  as  the  "assize  of 
bread  and  ale,"  which  dates  from  the  reign  of  Henry 
III  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Selectmen  of  Boston,  Septem- 
ber 2,  1796,  the  text  of  the  "assize  of  bread"  was  pub- 
lished for  the  instruction  of  bakers  and  Clerks  of  the 

246 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

Market. 

The  duties  of  the  latter  included  the  inspection  of 
weights  and  measures;  and  for  the  better  protection 
of  house-keepers,  Clerks  of  the  Market  were  charged 
to  be  vigilant  in  preventing  all  frauds  and  abuses 
which  might  arise.  At  the  Selectmen's  meeting 
above  mentioned,  the  several  bakers  within  the  Town 
were  ordered  "to  mark  their  Bread,  which  they  bake 
for  Sale,  with  the  first  letter  of  their  Christian-Names, 
and  with  the  first  and  last  letters  of  their  Sur-Names." 
Moreover,  such  bread  as  was  not  well  baked,  and 
loaves  made  of  inferior  flour,  were  liable  to  seizure 
by  the  authorities.  The  heaviness  of  a  loaf  was  for- 
merly determined  by  Troy  weight.  In  1735  the  stand- 
ard weight  of  a  penny  white  loaf  was  three  ounces 
and  five  penny-weights;  that  of  a  sixpenny  wheaten 
loaf  was  somewhat  over  a  pound. 

From  the  large  number  of  New  England  bakeries 
in  early  times,  and  the  penalties  imposed  for  short- 
weight  loaves,  it  appears  that  the  house-wives  did 
but  little  home  baking.  Among  the  various  kinds 
of  bread  then  in  popular  use,  were  simnels,1  or  cakes 
made  of  fine  flour;  cracknels,  a  kind  of  brittle,  fancy 
biscuit;  wastels,  cakes  of  the  finest  quality,  and  cocket- 

1  Alice  Morse  Earle:  Customs  and  Fashions  in  Old  New  Eng- 
land. 

247 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

bread,  a  less  choice  grade  of  wheat-bread;  manchet, 
made  from  the  whitest  wheaten  flour;  cheat-loaves, 
of  coarser  quality,  and  buns  made  of  sweetened  bread, 
baked  in  small  cakes. 

In  later  medieval  times  simnels  were  a  luxury 
which  none  but  wealthy  persons  of  high  rank  could 
afford;  and  wastel-bread  was  a  favorite  among  the 
well-to-do  of  the  middle  classes.  Tourte,  a  kind  of 
coarse  cake,  made  of  unbolted  meal,  was  a  staple  ar- 
ticle of  diet  for  the  poor.  During  the  reign  of  Rich- 
ard II,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  bakers  of  tourte 
bread  were  not  allowed  to  have  a  bolting-sieve  in  their 
possession. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  The  Monastery,  describes 
Mysie,  daughter  of  Hob  the  Miller,  as  having  a  com- 
plexion fair  as  "her  father's  finest  bolten  flour,  out 
of  which  was  made  the  Abbot's  own  wastel-bread." 

Ezekiel  Price,  Secretary 

EZEKIEL  PRICE  (1728-1802)  was  living  in 
Winter  Street  in  1780  or  thereabout,  and  in  the 
list  of  tax-payers  of  that  year,  he  is  set  down  as  a 
"scribe."  Mr.  Price  was  prominent  in  public  life, 
and  held  various  offices  both  under  the  Crown,  and 
after  the  Revolution.  He  served  as  Secretary  to 

248 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

Governors  William  Shirley,  Thomas  Pownall  and  Sir 
Francis  Bernard.  He  was  also  clerk  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  under  both  Colonial  and  State  rule. 
By  profession  he  was  a  Notary  Public  and  Insurance 
broker.  Mr.  Price  was  also  active  in  town  affairs, 
serving  as  a  Selectman  for  about  thirty  years.  His 
later  residence  was  on  Tremont  Street,  where  the  Bos- 
ton Museum  afterward  stood.  During  the  Siege  of 
Boston  he  lived  with  his  family  in  Stoughton  where 
he  kept  an  Interesting  Diary,  which  has  been  pre- 
served. 

Thomas  William  Parsons,  Poet 

THOMAS  WILLIAM  PARSONS  (1819-1891), 
American  poet  and  translator,  had  his  home  at 
number  18  Winter  Street.  He  took  a  six  years'  course 
at  the  Boston  Public  Latin  School,  and  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  went  abroad  with  his  father,  and  spent 
the  winter  of  1836-7  in  Italy,  where  he  became  an 
earnest  student  of  Dante,  a  portion  of  whose  Divine 
Comedy  he  afterward  translated.  This  version  was 
pronounced  the  most  successful  reproduction  of  the 
spirit  and  power  of  that  great  work,  in  the  English 
language.  His  Hudson  River  was  the  noblest  tribute 
which  any  stream  on  this  Continent  has  ever  re- 

249 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

ceived.1  Mr.  Parsons  published  a  volume  of  poems 
in  1854.  Although  not  a  graduate  of  any  university, 
he  received  from  Harvard  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  the  American  Academy. 

In  1842,  when  Mr.  Parson  was  living  in  Winter 
Street,  Charles  Dickens  made  his  first  visit  to  Bos- 
ton, and  his  impressions  of  the  city  were  published 
in  American  Notes,  which  appeared  not  long  after. 
That  these  impressions  were  favorable  is  evident 
from  the  following  quotation :  "When  I  got  into  the 
streets  upon  this  Sunday  morning,  the  air  was  so 
clear;  the  houses  were  so  bright  and  gay;  the  sign- 
boards were  painted  in  such  gaudy  colors ;  the  gilded 
letters  were  so  very  golden;  the  bricks  were  so  very 
red;  the  stones  were  so  very  white;  the  blinds  and 
area  railings  were  so  very  green,  the  knobs  and  plates 
upon  the  street  doors  so  marvelously  bright  and 
twinkling,  that  every  thoroughfare  in  the  city  looked 
exactly  like  a  scene  in  a  pantomime.  .  .  . 

"The  white  wooden  houses  in  the  suburbs  (so  white 
that  it  makes  one  wink  to  look  at  them),  with  their 
green  jalousie  blinds,  are  so  sprinkled  and  dropped 
about  in  all  directions,  without  seeming  to  have  any 
root  at  all  in  the  ground;  and  the  small  churches 
and  chapels  are  so  prim  and  bright  and  highly  var- 

1  Griswold's  Poets  of  America,  page  559. 

250 


WINTER   STREET    LOTS 

nished;  that  I  almost  believed  the  whole  affair  could 
be  taken  up  piece-meal,  like  a  child's  toy,  and 
crammed  into  a  little  box.  .  .  .  The  City  is  a  beau- 
tiful one,  and  cannot  fail,  I  should  imagine,  to  im- 
press all  strangers  favorably." 

Blott's  Corner 

THE  home  of  Robert  Blott  was  on  the  south  cor- 
ner of  Winter  Street  (Blott's  Lane)  and  New- 
bury,  now  Washington  Street.  This  lot  was  owned 
successively  by  his  son-in-law,  Doctor  Edward  Ellis, 
and  grandson,  Robert  Ellis,  who  was  a  "barber- 
chirurgeon."  The  property  remained  in  the  posses- 
sion of  members  of  the  Ellis  family  for  more  than 
fifty  years.  During  the  latter  part  of  this  period  it 
was  several  times  mortgaged.  In  1727  there  were 
living  on  the  estate,  as  tenants,  John  Durant,  who  had 
a  blacksmith's  shop  on  the  premises ;  Joseph  Simpson, 
a  "clog-maker,"  and  Anne  Stone,  retailer. 

In  April,  1728,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Ellis,  widow  of  Rob- 
ert Ellis  and  executrix  of  his  will,  conveyed  the  estate 
to  Benjamin  Pemberton,  the  younger.  He  was  a 
grandson  of  James  and  Sarah  Pemberton,  who  lived 
in  Newbury  township,  Massachusetts.  His  father, 
Benjamin  Pemberton,  Senior,  was  a  brewer,  of  Bos- 

251 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

ton,  and  a  member  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Ar- 
tillery Company.  Benjamin  Pemberton,  Junior,  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  of 
Boston.  This  was  an  important  position,  and  those 
occupying  it  were  uniformly  citizens  of  high  charac- 
ter and  ability,  who  were  elected  by  popular  vote. 

In  1733  King  George  II  appointed  Mr.  Pemberton 
Naval  Officer  of  the  Port  of  Boston.  In  compliance 
with  this  order,  Governor  Belcher  removed  his  own 
son  from  that  office  in  favor  of  the  appointee.  Ben- 
jamin Pemberton  was  also  Clerk  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Massachusetts.  By  his  will  he  left  a  be- 
quest, which  is  known  as  the  Pemberton  Fund,  whose 
income  is  expended  for  the  benefit  of  the  Poor. 

A  younger  brother  of  Benjamin  Pemberton  was  the 
Reverend  Ebenezer  Pemberton  (1671-1717),  Har- 
vard, 1691.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church, 
and  a  man  of  exceptional  ability  and  learning.  He 
was  said  to  have  lacked  only  vigorous  health  in  order 
to  have  become  famous.  Dr.  Joseph  Sewall  wrote  of 
him  that  "few  in  these  corners  of  the  earth  had  been 
better  acquainted  with  men  and  books." 

Benjamin  Pemberton  divided  the  Blott  Corner  es- 
tate into  several  parcels,  and  sold  one  of  them  in 
1728  to  Edward  Durant  the  younger,  blacksmith,  of 
whom  mention  has  been  made.  This  lot  was  100  feet 

252 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

deep,  along  Winter  Street,  with  a  frontage  of  20  feet 
on  Washington  Street. 

In  1738  Mr.  Durant  conveyed  the  easterly  half  of 
his  land,  which  included  the  original  Blott's  Corner, 
with  a  brick  dwelling-house,  and  extended  "so  far 
west  as  to  take  in  half  the  well  and  pump,"  to  Samuel 
Brown  of  Worcester,  a  tailor.  The  latter  trans- 
ferred the  premises  in  the  following  year  to  Powers 
Marriott,  of  Boston,  a  shop-keeper.  In  1752  Mr. 
Marriott  sold  this  estate  to  John  Spooner,  a  Boston 
merchant,  in  consideration  of  five  shillings,  lawful 
money ;  to  be  held  in  trust  for  Sarah  Weaver,  a  minor, 
and  niece  of  Marriott's  wife,  Catherine.  Sarah 
Weaver  married  first,  in  1770,  John  Gooch,  a  mer- 
chant. His  name  appears  as  one  of  the  signers  of 
a  petition  to  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  in  town  meet- 
ing assembled,  March  9,  1740,  remonstrating  against 
the  practice  of  shooting  pigeons  from  the  tops  of 
houses ;  a  practice  which  was  "evidently  attended  with 
many  bad  consequences,  such  as  exposing  the  houses 
to  fire  by  the  lighted  wads  falling  on  the  shingles  in 
a  dry  season;  shooting  through  windows,  and  by  the 
noise  of  the  guns,  robbing  the  aged,  the  sick,  the  weak 
and  infirm,  of  the  best  part  of  their  repose." 

Sarah  (Weaver)  Gooch  married  (2)  in  1784,  Eze- 
kiel  Cheever,  a  namesake  and  great-grandson  of  the 

253 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

celebrated  master  of  the  Boston  Latin  School,  of 
whom  Cotton  Mather  wrote  that  he  had  been  "a  skil- 
full,  Painful,  Faithful  Schoolmaster  for  seventy 
years;  and  had  the  Singular  Favour  of  Heaven,  that 
tho'  he  had  spent  his  life  among  Children,  yet  he  was 
not  become  Twice  a  Child,  but  held  his  Abilities,  with 
his  Usefulness,  in  an  unusual  degree,  to  the  very 
last.  .  .  .  And  it  was  noted  that  when  Scholars 
came  to  be  Admitted  into  the  Colledge,  they  who 
came  from  the  Cheeverian  Education,  were  generally 
the  most  unexceptionable." 

Of  Master  Cheever  it  was  said  that  he  left  office 
at  last  without  being  tired,  but  simply  because  he  was 
obliged  to. 

And  Chief  Justice  Sewall  wrote  of  him  that  he 
taught  school  "skilfully,  diligently,  constantly  and 
religiously.  A  rare  instance  of  Piety,  Health, 
Strength  and  Serviceableness.  The  Wellfare  of  the 
Province  was  much  upon  his  spirit.  He  abominated 
Periwigs." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Magistrates  and  Selectmen 
(Governor  Richard  Bellingham  and  Major-General 
John  Leverett  being  present),  December  22,  1670,  it 
was  ordered  that  "Mr.  Ezachiell  Chevers"  should  be 
at  the  Governor's  house  that  day  seven-night  to  treat 
with  them  concerning  the  Free  School.  And  at  the 

254 


WINTER   STREET   LOTS 

adjourned  meeting,  December  29,  it  was  ordered  that 
Mr.  Cheever  be  installed  as  head-master  of  the  said 
school.  And  he,  being  present,  accepted  the  position. 

Ezekiel  Cheever,  third  of  the  name,  was  a  Select- 
man of  Charlestown  from  1752  to  1755,  and  after- 
ward removed  to  Boston.  He  was  an  active  partici- 
pant in  the  great  mass  meetings  held  in  Faneuil  Hall 
and  the  Old  South  Church,  November  29  and  30, 
J773>  to  remonstrate  against  the  landing  of  the  tea; 
and  was  appointed  Captain  of  the  Watch  set  to  ob- 
serve the  tea-ships.1  In  August,  1775,  he  was  made 
Commissary  of  Artillery  in  the  Continental  Army. 
He  was  also  Commissary  in  charge  of  Ordnance 
stores,  and  served  nearly  five  years  during  the  Revo- 
lution. 

In  1793  Sarah  (Weaver)  Gooch  Cheever,  widow 
of  Ezekiel  Cheever,  conveyed  the  estate  to  her  unmar- 
ried step-daughters,  Sarah,  Elizabeth  and  Abigail 
Cheever. 

After  retaining  the  property  for  nearly  ten  years, 
they  sold  it,  January  ist,  1803,  to  John  Parker  Whit- 
well,  a  druggist,  of  Boston.  He  transferred,  De- 
cember 16,  1814,  to  Mehitable  Homans  of  Boston, 

1New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register.    38,  183, 
1884. 

255 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

widow,  and  guardian  of  John  Thomas  Philip  Dumont, 
a  minor,  "the  same  premises  now  improved  by  me  as 
an  Apothecary  Store." 


256 


TREMONT    STREET  NEIGHBORS 


TREMONT  STREET  NEIGHBORS 

Daniel  Maud 

DANIEL  MAUD  was  the  owner  of  a  lot  front- 
ing on  the  roadway,  now  Tremont  Street,  and 
nearly  opposite  the  site  of  the  public  granary,  which 
was  built  a  century  later  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by 
Park  Street  Church.  Mr.  Maud  was  a  graduate  of 
Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge  University,  England 
(M.A.,  1610).  He  was  a  dissenting  minister,  who 
was  obliged  to  give  up  his  English  charge  on  account 
of  non-conformity.  He  came  to  this  country  in 
the  ship  James  in  1635,  being  then  about  fifty  years 
old,  and  was  admitted  to  membership  in  the  First 
Church  in  Boston  during  October  of  the  same  year. 
On  August  2nd,  1635,  Mr.  Maud  was  appointed  a 
teacher  in  the  Boston  Latin  School,  and  on  the  twelfth 
day  of  the  same  month,  "at  a  general  meeting  of  the 
richer  inhabitants,  there  was  given  towards  the  main- 
tenance of  a  free  school-master  for  the  youth  with 
us,  Mr.  Daniel  Maud  being  now  also  chosen  there- 
unto ; 

259 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

The  Governor,  Mr.  Henry  Vane,  Esq.,  £X. 
The  Deputy  Governor,  Mr.  John  Winthrop,  £X, 
Mr.  Richard  Bellingham,  XL  shillings. 
Mr.  Willianf  Coddington,  XXX  shillings. 
Mr.  Winthrop,  Jr.,  XX  shillings, 
and  many  others." 

On  the  1 7th  of  the  second  month,  (April)  1637, 
it  was  voted  that  "Mr.  Daniel  Maud,  schoole-master, 
shall  have  a  garden-plott  next  unto  Stephen  Kinsley's 
house-plott,  upon  like  Condition  of  building  thereon, 
if  neede  bee." 

It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  Mr.  Maud  was 
the  first  school-master  in  the  town;  for  at  a  meeting 
of  citizens,  in  April,  1635,  it  was  voted  that  "our 
brother  Philemon  Pormont  be  intreated  to  become  a 
Schole-master  for  the  teaching  and  nourtering  of  chil- 
dren with  us." 

Mr.  Pormont,  or  Pormort,  accepted  the  office,  and 
received  the  support  of  some  of  the  prominent  towns- 
people. He  and  his  wife,  Susan,  had  been  admitted 
as  members  of  the  First  Church  in  August  of  the 
preceding  year. 

"Philemon  Pormort,"  said  Phillips  Brooks  in  an 
anniversary  address,  "is  hardly  more  than  the  shadow 
of  a  name.  It  is  not  even  clear  that  he  ever  actually 
taught  the  school  at  all.  A  few  years  later,  after  the 

260 


TREMONT    STREET    NEIGHBORS 

Hutchinson  excitement,  he  disappeared  into  the  north- 
ern woods,  and  became  one  of  the  founders  of  Exeter, 
New  Hampshire.  Dim,  half-discerned  Philemon  Por- 
mort,  with  the  very  spelling  of  his  name  disputed, 
with  his  face  looking  out  upon  us  from  the  mist, 
merely  serves  to  give  a  sort  of  human  reality  to  that 
which  would  otherwise  be  wholly  vague." 

It  is  not  known  whether  Mr.  Pormont  retired  when 
Daniel  Maud  began  teaching;  or  whether  the  latter 
was  his  assistant  for  a  time,  and  then  his  successor. 
But  these  appointments  marked  the  origin  of  Boston's 
educational  system,  and  the  founding  of  its  Public 
Latin  School,  the  oldest  and  one  of  the  most  famous 
in  the  country.  Harvard  College,  at  first  a  "wilder- 
ness Seminary,"  had  its  beginning  at  about  the  same 
time.  Mr.  Maud  was  called  a  good  man,  of  a  serious 
spirit,  and  of  a  quiet  and  peaceable  disposition.  At 
the  request  of  the  citizens  of  Dover,  New  Hampshire, 
he  became  their  minister  in  1642.  In  the  records  of 
that  town,  August  1st  of  the  same  year,  is  the  fol- 
lowing: "It  is  ordered  that  Mr.  Dan11  Maud,  and 
Mary  his  wife,  shall  enjoy  the  house  they  now  dwell 
in,  during  their  lives,  provided  hee  continue  amongst 
us  as  Teacher  or  Pastor,  if  please  God  to  call  him 
to  it." 


261 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 


Edward  Bromfield,  Representative 

TN  June,  1684,  Edward  Bromfield  of  Boston,  "in 
•••ye  Mattachusetts  Colony  in  New  England,"  became 
the  owner  of  a  piece  of  land,  with  a  dwelling-house, 
"neer  unto  the  Common  or  Trayning  Field,  and 
bounded  northerly  with  the  New  Lane  or  way  lead- 
ing from  the  Broad  Street  into  the  Common."  This 
was  called  Rawson's  Lane  in  1708,  Bromfield's  Lane 
in  1751,  and  Bromfield  Street  in  1828. 

The  dwelling-house  stood  upon  the  spot  afterward 
occupied  by  the  Indian  Queen  Tavern,  a  popular 
stage-house.  This  was  also  the  site  of  the  Bromfield 
House  in  recent  times.  Rawson's  Lane  was  described 
as  "leading  from  Briscow's  Corner,  in  Malbrough 
Street,  passing  by  Justice  Bromfeeld's  in  to  ye 
Comon." 

Edward  Bromfield  (1649-1734),  who  came  to  Bos- 
ton from  England  in  1675,  was  born  at  Hay  wood 
House,  the  ancestral  estate,  in  the  parish  of  Boldre, 
and  within  the  borders  of  the  New  Forest,  not  far 
from  Lymington  in  Hampshire.  He  soon  became  an 
active  member  of  the  Old  South  Church  in  Boston; 
and  to  secure  freedom  from  worldly  noise  and  dis- 
tractions, he  transformed  the  pasture  behind  his  house 

262 


TREMONT   STREET   NEIGHBORS 

into  a  shady  grove,  and  built  therein  a  small  Chapel 
or  Oratory,  where  he  was  wont  often  to  retire. 

Mr.  Bromfield  was  a  Selectman,  Overseer  of  the 
Poor,  Representative,  and  a  member  of  the  Council 
for  many  years.  In  1706  he  was  one  of  a  Committee 
to  "examine  and  consider  the  state  of  the  Almes  and 
Worke  House,  and  to  make  report  to  the  next  Town 
meeting  of  what  they  shall  think  proper  for  the  man- 
agement thereof  for  the  year  ensuing." 

Mr.  Bromfield  was  of  a  cheerful  disposition,  open- 
hearted  and  liberal  in  his  views.  His  conversation 
was  pleasant  and  instructive,  without  the  least  sign 
of  pride  or  roughness.1 

By  his  Will  he  bequeathed  to  his  wife,  Mary  Dan- 
forth  Bromfield,  his  negro  man  named  Thomas.  To 
his  son  Edward  he  gave  his  best  sword,  and  to  his 
son-in-law,  Thomas  Cushing,  his  "second  sword." 
His  daughter  Sarah  received  a  table  which  came  from 
Surinam,  and  a  "bed  and  wrought  curtains  in  the 
Chamber  of  my  Brick  House." 

During  the  period  of  Mr.  Bromfield's  activities  in 
Town  affairs,  he  was  zealous  in  promoting  the  pub- 
lic welfare  and  safety.  It  seems  appropriate  there- 
fore to  mention  certain  matters  of  interest  to  the  cit- 
izens at  that  time.  At  a  Town  meeting,  September 

lNew  England  Weekly  Journal,  June  10,  1734. 

263 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

22,  1701,  it  was  ordered  that  "whosoever  shall  at  any 
time  hereafter  use  the  Exercise  of  Playing  or  kicking 
of  football  within  any  of  the  Streets  or  Land  within 
the  body  of  this  Town,  shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  Sum 
of  one  Shilling  for  every  Transgression  of  this  order. 
Nor  shall  any  person  hereafter  fire  or  throw  any 
Squibb,  Rocket,  Serpent  or  other  fireworkes.  .  .  . 
Nor  shall  any  person  throw  or  heave  any  Snowballs 
or  Stones  at  any  person  in  the  Streets,  Lanes  or  Allyes 
of  this  Town." 

At  the  same  meeting  it  was  ordered  that  no  negro, 
mulatto  or  Indian  should  carry  any  stick  or  cane 
"that  may  be  fit  for  quarreling  or  fighting,"  within 
the  Town  limits,  on  penalty  of  a  fine  of  five  shillings. 
If  found  carrying  a  stick  or  cane  having  on  the  end 
thereof  an  iron  ring,  ferule,  spear  or  nail,  the  penalty 
was  ten  shillings. 

At  a  somewhat  later  period  Boston  appears  to  have 
been  overrun  with  dogs.  At  a  general  Town  meet- 
ing, July  ist,  1728,  it  was  voted  that  whereas  the 
"Great  Number  of  Doggs  keep  in  Boston  is  found  to 
be  very  Detremental  Thro'  their  Worrying,  Chase- 
ing  and  Wounding  the  Cattle,  Sheep  and  Fowles ;  and 
Occasioning  the  Butchers  to  keep  their  Sheep  Housed 
in  the  night,  which  is  much  to  the  Damage  of  this 
Town  in  General.  Ordered  that  no  person  shall  keep 

264 


TREMONT    STREET    NEIGHBORS 

any  Dogg  to  go  at  Large  within  this  Town  of  Bos- 
ton, above  Ten  Inches  High." 

Edward  Bromfield,  Junior  (1695-1756),  a  son  of 
the  preceding,  filled  many  important  offices.  He  was 
an  eminent  merchant,  who  stood  high  in  the  regard 
of  his  fellow-townsmen.  His  house,  which  was  on 
Beacon  Street,  nearly  opposite  to  the  Boston  Athe- 
neum,  was  "a  little  Church,  where  everything  that 
had  the  appearance  of  vice  was  resolutely  banished." 
In  1746  Mr.  Bromfield  served  on  a  Committee  whose 
members  were  instructed  to  wait  upon  his  Excellency 
the  Governor,  and  the  Honorable  Council,  and  to  in- 
form them  that  the  Town  apprehended  danger  from 
the  presence  of  large  numbers  of  subjects  of  the 
French  King,  who  were  allowed  freedom  in  the 
streets.  About  one  hundred  of  these  people  were 
arrested  by  the  Constables  and  taken  to  his  Majesty's 
Gaol  in  Boston,  but  the  High  Sheriff  of  the  County 
refused  to  receive  them. 

Mr.  Bromfield  had  a  son,  Edward  the  third  (1723- 
1745),  who  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  Class  of 
1742. 


265 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 


Captain  Adino  Paddock 

ADINO  PADDOCK  (1728-1804),  chaise-maker, 
owned  a  large  portion  of  the  land  on  the  east 
side  of  Tremont  Street,  between  the  historic  Winter 
Street  corner  lot  and  Rawson's  Lane  (now  Bromfield 
Street),  which  was  named  after  Edward  Rawson, 
who  was  Secretary  of  the  Colony  for  many  years. 
Mr.  Paddock  bought  the  northerly  part,  which  abutted 
on  the  Lane,  from  Thomas  Gushing,  merchant,  in 
May,  1760;  and  within  a  few  years  thereafter,  he 
purchased  other  lots,  including  a  part  of  the  estate 
of  Edward  Bromfield,  which  had  been  conveyed  to 
the  latter  by  Abigail  Gillam  in  March,  1739.  His 
home-lot  was  bought  of  William  Lewis,  merchant,  in 
1772.  Here  were  a  large  dwelling-house,  garden, 
yard,  out-houses,  a  work-shop,  barn,  chaise-house, 
blacksmith's  shop  and  sheds. 

Captain  Adino  Paddock  (a  lineal  descendant  of 
Zachariah  Paddock,  who  came  over  in  the  May- 
flower while  yet  a  minor)  was  the  pioneer  coach- 
builder  in  Boston.  He  also  built  "chairs,"  as  the  light 
one-horse  chaises  were  called  in  those  days.  He 
served  the  town  as  a  sealer  of  leather,  and  as  a  fire- 
ward. 

266 


TREMONT    STREET   NEIGHBORS 

Captain  Paddock  was  a  prominent  military  man. 
He  joined  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Com- 
pany in  1762,  and  became  Commander  of  the  Boston 
Train  of  Artillery  in  1768.  He  it  was  who  gave  to 
this  part  of  Tremont  Street  the  name  of  Long  Acre, 
which,  although  never  accepted  officially,  was  long  in 
popular  use.  The  London  Long  Acre,  a  continuation 
of  Great  Queen  Street,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Covent 
Garden  Theatre,  is  still  a  coach-building  center.  Cap- 
tain Paddock  planted  a  row  of  fine  English  elms  along 
the  west  side  of  Tremont  Street,  opposite  his  home. 
The  Paddock  elms  stood  there  for  about  a  century, 
when  they  had  to  yield  to  the  march  of  progress.  He 
was  a  radical  Tory,  and  left  Boston  with  the  British 
soldiers  and  a  large  party  of  Royalists,  in  March,  1776. 
In  the  following  June  he  sailed  from  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  for  England,  and  later  became  a  resident  of 
the  Isle  of  Jersey,  where  he  held  the  office  of  In- 
spector of  Artillery  Stores. 

Captain  Paddock  was  one  of  the  large  number  of 
loyalist  absentees,  who  were  proscribed  as  enemies  of 
the  State  in  1778.  His  land  and  buildings  were  con- 
fiscated, and  were  conveyed,  July  12,  1780,  to  Thomas 
Bumstead,  coach-maker,  of  Boston,  by  a  committee 
authorized  to  sell  the  estates  of  "Royalist  Refugees." 
This  committee  consisted  of  the  following  persons: 

267 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

Caleb  Davis,  Thomas  Dawes,  Ebenezer  Wales  and 
Thomas  Henshaw.1 

Paddock's  Train  of  Artillery  was  noted  for  the 
excellence  of  its  personnel;  in  its  rank  and  file  were 
many  skilled  mechanics,  and  a  high  degree  of  disci- 
pline was  maintained.  Its  commander  had  received 
instruction  in  the  autumn  of  1766  from  members  of 
a  company  of  Artillerymen,  who  were  bound  for  Que- 
bec. Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season,  they  were 
obliged  to  spend  the  winter  in  Boston,  making  their 
headquarters  at  Castle  William.  Paddock  enlisted 
the  services  of  a  number  of  German  emigrants,  who 
manned  the  drag-ropes.  Their  uniform  included 
white  frocks  and  hair  caps,  and  they  carried  broad- 
swords.2 The  Company's  gun-house  was  on  the 
south  corner  of  Tremont  and  West  Streets. 

The  nineteenth  of  May,  1766,  was  a  day  of  gen- 
eral rejoicing  in  Boston,  on  account  of  the  Repeal  of 
the  Stamp  Act  by  Parliament.  The  patriot,  John 
Hancock,  entertained  the  "Genteel  Part  of  the  Town" 
at  his  mansion  on  Beacon  Hill;  and  in  front  of  the 
house  he  provided  a  pipe  of  Madeira  wine  for  the  re- 
galement of  the  populace.  On  the  Common  the  Sons 
of  Liberty  had  placed  an  obelisk,  which  was  illumi- 

1  Massachusetts  Archives:     "Revolution  Royalists;"   1778-1784. 
*  F.  S.  Drake.    Life  of  General  Henry  Knox. 

268 


TREMONT    STREET    NEIGHBORS 

nated  at  night  with  280  lamps.  The  guns  of  the  Cas- 
tle boomed,  drums  were  beaten,  and  Captain  Pad- 
dock's Artillery  Company  fired  a  salute. 

The  Massachusetts  Gazette,  May  22,  1766,  con- 
tained the  following  Notice: 

"The  Row  of  Trees  opposite  Mr.  Paddock's  Shop 
have  of  late  received  Damage  by  persons  inadvert- 
ently breaking  off  the  limbs  of  the  most  flourishing. 
The  youth  of  both  sexes  are  requested,  as  they  pass 
that  way,  not  to  molest  them ;  those  trees  being  planted 
at  a  considerable  expense  for  an  Ornament  and  Serv- 
ice to  the  Town.  Not  one  of  the  trees  was  injured 
the  Night  of  General  Rejoicing,  but  last  Night  sev- 
eral limbs  were  broke  off." 

And  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post,  August  26,  1771, 
this  advertisement  appeared: 

"A  GUINEA  REWARD  will  be  given  by  the  sub- 
scriber to  any  one  who  shall  inform  him  of  the  Per- 
son or  Persons  that  on  Thursday  night  last  cut  and 
hacked  one  of  the  Trees  opposite  his  House  in  Long 
Acre.  ...  It  is  hoped  that  all  persons  will  do  their 
Endeavour  to  discountenance  such  Practices. 

"Adino  Paddock." 

The  old  trees  of  Paddock's  Mall  (wrote  Nathaniel 
B.  Shurtleff,  in  his  Topographical  Description  of  Bos- 
ton), with  their  thickly-set  leaves,  produced  a  most 

269 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

grateful  shade  in  front  of  the  Old  Granary  Burying- 
Ground.  They  were  a  picturesque  feature  of  Long 
Acre,  and  afforded  protection  in  summer  to  the  way- 
farers, who  oftentimes  were  wont  to  pause  a  while 
in  order  to  survey  the  quaint  old  tomb-stones,  and  the 
more  pretentious  sculptured  tablets. 

These  trees  were  imported  from  England  by  Cap- 
tain Paddock,  and  were  planted  about  the  year  1762. 
The  largest  of  them  stood  next  to  the  old  Tremont 
House,  and  measured  sixteen  feet  in  circumference 
at  its  base,  in  1860.  At  that  time  only  eleven  of  the 
trees  remained.  They  were  removed  in  1873. 

The  Tremont  Street  Mall,  always  a  favorite  Prom- 
enade, appears  to  have  been  the  scene  of  fashionable 
Sunday  parades  after  the  Revolution.  The  Massa- 
chusetts Centinel,  May,  1785,  had  the  following:  "In 
the  evening  very  few  were  in  the  Mall,  though  we 
fear  that  some  were  disappointed  of  their  customary 
tour  to  that  frequented  place,  upon  account  of  a  se- 
vere gust  of  wind. 

That  many  of  the  fair  were  detained  from  prin- 
ciple, and  not  the  weather,  we  are  inclined  to  believe 
is  the  cause;  and  that  the  happiness  of  our  females 
is  built  upon  a  foundation  more  permanent  than  wind. 
We,  however,  commiserate  the  disappointment  of 

270 


TREMONT    STREET    NEIGHBORS 

some,  and  wish  the  next  Sunday  may  afford  some 
gentler  relaxation  from  divine  service." 

The  Manufactory  House 

THE  so-called  Manufactory  House  was  built  by 
the  Province  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  on  Long  Acre  Street,  and  with  its  grounds 
occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  present  Hamilton 
Place.  Its  establishment  was  due  to  a  remarkable 
popular  demonstration  known  as  the  Spinning-Craze, 
which  was  traceable  to  the  arrival  in  Boston  of  a 
Company  of  Irish  Spinners  and  Weavers  in  the  year 
1718.  Under  the  influence  of  this  novel  excitement, 
the  women,  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  high  and 
low,  flocked  to  the  Spinning  School,  which  was  set  up 
on  the  Common  in  the  open  air.  Here  the  whirr  of 
their  wheels  was  heard  from  morning  till  night.  Pre- 
miums were  offered  for  the  best  work,  and  the  en- 
thusiasts went  about  proudly  clothed  in  the  home- 
spun products  of  their  own  hands.  The  fashion 
was  as  short-lived  as  it  was  furious.1  However, 
the  growing  interest  in  weaving  and  spinning, 
and  the  importance  of  the  linen  industry,  led  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Manufactory  House;  and  to  de- 
*The  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  IV,  511. 

271 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

fray  the  cost  of  its  construction  a  tax  was  levied  on 
carriages  and  other  articles  of  luxury.  A  spinning- 
school  was  established  therein,  where  any  person  who 
so  desired  was  given  free  instruction. 

In  1768  the  Manufactory  House  was  rented  by  the 
Province,  and  was  occupied  by  private  families.  It 
acquired  prominence  at  that  time,  owing  to  an  attempt 
by  Colonel  William  Dalrymple,  of  the  Fourteenth  reg- 
iment of  Regulars,  to  secure  quarters  therein  for  his 
soldiers.  The  tenants  refused  to  vacate;  whereupon 
Governor  Bernard  issued  a  mandate,  which  was 
served  by  Sheriff  Greenleaf,  ordering  the  surrender 
of  the  premises.  This  procedure  was  also  without 
avail.  Finally  the  Sheriff  and  some  of  his  deputies 
gained  entrance  to  the  cellar,  where  they  found  them- 
selves prisoners.  They  were  soon  released  by  a  squad 
of  soldiers;  and  the  Manufactory  House  remained  in 
possession  of  the  tenants. 

This  was  largely  due  to  the  energy  and  persistence 
of  Elisha  Brown,  who  caused  the  windows  and  doors 
of  the  building  to  be  barred.  His  epitaph  in  the 
Granary  Burying  Ground  is  as  follows : 

"Elisha  Brown,  of  Boston,  who  in  October,  1769, 
during  17  days  inspired  with  a  generous  zeal  for  the 
Laws,  bravely  and  successfully  opposed  a  whole  Brit- 
ish Regiment  in  their  violent  attempt  to  Force  him 

272 


TREMONT    STREET   NEIGHBORS 

from  his  legal  habitation.  Happy  Citizen,  when 
called  singly  to  be  a  Barrier  to  the  Liberties  of  a  Con- 
tinent." 

The  building  was  used  by  the  British  during  the 
Siege,  and  received  its  quota  of  wounded  from  Bunker 
Hill.  The  Massachusetts  Bank,  which  was  incor- 
porated in  1784,  had  offices  here  for  several  years. 
On  a  corner  of  the  west  end  of  the  edifice,  fronting 
on  Long  Acre,  was  portrayed  in  relief  the  figure  of 
a  woman,  holding  in  her  hand  a  distaff,  emblematic 
of  Industry.  The  building  was  taken  down  in  1806. 

This  fine  structure  appears  to  have  been  a  con- 
venient meeting-place  for  the  members  of  various 
organizations.  The  Independent  Ledger  and  Ameri- 
can Advertiser,  Boston,  October  6,  1783,  contained 
this  announcement :  "The  Fellows  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society  are  hereby  notified  that  a  Meet- 
ing of  the  said  Society  will  be  holden  at  the  Hall  of 
the  Manufactory  House  in  Boston  on  Wednesday  the 
fifteenth  of  October  next  at  X  o'clock  A.  M." 


The  Spinning  Craze 

THE  Spinning  Craze  appears  to  have  revived  at 
intervals;  for  the  Boston  Evening  Post,  in  an 
issue  of  Monday,  August  13,  1753,  gave  an  account 

273 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL    SITE 

of  a  large  gathering  on  the  Common  at  that  time: 

"Wednesday  last  being  the  meeting  of  the  Society  for 
encouraging  Industry  and  employing  the  Poor,  the 
Reverend  Mr.  [Samuel]  Cooper  of  this  town  preached 
an  excellent  sermon  before  them  and  a  vast  assem- 
blage of  other  Persons  of  all  Ranks  and  Denomina- 
tions, in  the  Old  South  Meeting-House.  After  ser- 
mon £453  Old  Tenor  was  collected  for  the  further 
promoting  of  the  laudable  undertaking. 

In  the .  afternoon  about  300  Spinners,  all  neatly 
dressed,  and  many  of  'em  Daughters  of  the  best  Fam- 
ilies in  Town,  appeared  on  the  Common,  and  being 
placed  orderly  in  three  Rows,  at  work,  made  a  de- 
lightful appearance.  The  Weavers  also  (cleanly 
dressed  in  Garments  of  their  own  weaving),  with  a 
Loom,  and  a  young  man  at  work  on  a  stage  pre- 
pared for  that  Purpose,  carried  on  Men's  Shoulders, 
attended  by  musick,  preceded  the  Society ;  and  a  long 
Train  of  other  Gentlemen  of  Note,  both  of  Town  and 
Country,  as  they  walked  in  Procession,  to  view  the 
Spinners;  and  the  Spectators  were  so  numerous  that 
they  were  compared  by  many  to  one  of  Mr.  White- 
field's  Auditories,  when  he  formerly  preached  here  on 
the  Common." 


274 


TREMONT    STREET    NEIGHBORS 


Bumstead  Place 

"D  UMSTEAD  PLACE,  so  called  from  1807  until 
*~*  1868,  was  named  after  Thomas  Bumstead,  who 
became  the  owner  of  Adino  Paddock's  estate.  It  ex- 
tended from  Common  Street,  midway  between  Ham- 
ilton Place  and  Bromfield's  Lane,  easterly  for  a  dis- 
tance of  about  250  feet,  and  then  turned  northerly 
for  about  125  feet  into  the  latter  thoroughfare. 
Thomas  Bumstead  owned  and  occupied  a  wooden 
dwelling-house  on  the  south  corner  of  Bromfield's 
Lane  and  Common  Street.  He  also  owned  the  north- 
erly part  of  the  Cathedral  land,  and  mention  of  him 
has  been  made  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

George  Cabot  (1751-1823),  merchant  and  leader 
of  the  Massachusetts  Federalists,  occupied  for  a  time 
the  house,  number  one  Bumstead  Place.  He  studied 
at  Harvard,  but  left  College  at  the  end  of  his  Sopho- 
more year,  and  went  to  sea  as  a  cabin  boy  at  the  age 
of  sixteen.  Later  he  became  a  merchant,  and  formed 
a  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Joseph 
Lee.  They  became  large  ship-owners,  and  were  es- 
tablished in  Beverly,  which  was  then  regarded  by  its 
residents  as  likely  to  become  a  great  New  England 
seaport.  Mr.  Cabot  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in 

275 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL   SITE 

1779,  and  United  States  Senator  *rom  1791  to  1796. 
He  was  "only  one  of  many,  whose  minds  ripened  into 
a  peculiar  flavor,  and  grew  strong  with  a  robust, 
masculine  vigor  in  this  school  of  the  sea,  which  never 
failed  to  leave  on  its  scholars  the  characteristic  stamp 
of  the  quarter-deck,  and  a  dash  of  salt  water."1 

Temple  Place 

E  name  Turnagain  Alley  was  given  by  the 
Town  to  the  present  Temple  Place  in  1708.  It 
was  then  described  as  "the  Alley  leading  from  ye 
Common  easterly,  on  the  north  side  of  Madam  Ush- 
er's house.  "As  indicated  by  its  name,  it  was  a  blind 
alley,  and  as  shown  on  Bonner's  map  of  1722,  it  ex- 
tended only  about  one-third  of  the  distance  from  the 
Common  to  the  present  Washington  Street.  It  re- 
mained a  closed  lane  for  two  centuries  after  the  set- 
tlement of  Boston.  The  Masonic  Temple  was  built 
in  1830,  on  the  north  corner  of  Turnagain  Alley  and 
Tremont  Street;  the  name  of  the  former  being  then 
changed  to  Temple  Place.  For  about  a  week,  however, 
in  May,  1865,  it  was  called  Autumn  Street.  A  flight  of 
five  steps  led  down  through  a  twelve-foot  passageway 
into  Washington  Street ;  and  for  vehicle  traffic  Tem- 

1  Hon.  H.  C.  Lodge.    Life  and  Letters  of  George  Cabot. 

276 


TREMONT    STREET    NEIGHBORS 

pie  Place  might  have  appropriately  retained  its  early 
name  until  it  became  a  thoroughfare  in  1864,  when 
the  steps  were  taken  away  and  the  passage-way 
widened  by  the  removal  of  the  adjacent  buildings. 
Meantime,  soon  after  1830,  when  the  Usher  estate 
was  divided  into  lots,  Temple  Place  began  to  be  built 
up  with  domiciles,  which  were  occupied  by  a  number 
of  prominent  citizens;  it  became  part  of  a  favorite 
residential  district,  and  so  remained  until  the  period 
of  the  Civil  War,  when  the  streets  of  the  newly  re- 
claimed Back  Bay  lands  began  to  be  systematically 
developed. 

James  Savage  occupied  the  house,  number  one, 
Temple  Place,  on  the  south  side,  adjoining  the  flight 
of  steps  above  mentioned ;  removing  there  from  Hay- 
ward  Place  as  early  as  1834.  He  was  a  descendant 
of  Major  Thomas  Savage,  a  valiant  soldier  in  Philip's 
War,  who  in  1663  undertook  the  construction  of  a 
Barricade  enclosing  the  Town  Cove,  to  protect  the 
shipping  against  possible  attacks  by  a  foreign  fleet. 
His  forbears,  Abijah  Savage,  and  the  latter's  son,  of 
the  same  name,  were  Harvard  graduates  of  the  years 
1695  and  1723.  James  Savage  attended  the  Derby 
Academy  in  Hingham,  and  the  Washington  Acad- 
emy at  Machias,  Maine.  He  too  was  a  Harvard  man 
(A.B.,  1803),  and  was  admitted  to  the  Suffolk  Bar 

277 


ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL    SITE 

in  1807.  He  was  the  founder  and  president  of  the 
Provident  Institution  for  Savings.  Mr.  Savage  de- 
voted twenty  years  to  the  compilation  of  a  Genealog- 
ical Dictionary  of  the  First  Settlers  of  New  England. 
He  was  said  to  have  had  no  rival  in  the  accuracy  and 
extent  of  his  knowledge  of  New  England's  history. 

In  1832,  Thomas  Handasyd  Perkins  (1764-1854), 
philanthropist  and  public-spirited  citizen,  built  a 
house  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Provident  In- 
stitution for  Savings,  and  there  made  his  home.  He 
gave  his  estate  on  Pearl  Street  to  the  New  England 
Asylum  for  the  Blind,  which  was  renamed  in  1829 
the  Perkins  Institution,  in  honor  of  its  chief  bene- 
factor. .  .  .  Thomas  Lamb  (1796-1887)  bought  the 
estate  number  five,  Temple  Place,  in  1849.  He  occu- 
pied for  many  years  one  of  the  Somerset  Street 
houses,  which  were  demolished  when  the  new  Court 
House  was  built.  Mr.  Lamb  was  President  of  the 
Suffolk  Savings  Bank  for  forty-one  years,  and  of 
the  New  England  Bank  for  nearly  as  long  a  period. 

William  Barton  Rogers  (1804-1882),  geologist  and 
savant,  was  a  resident  of  Temple  Place  in  the  "six- 
ties." He  was  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  and  came  to 
Boston  in  1853.  Within  a  few  years  thereafter  he 
became  interested  in  a  scheme  for  technical  education, 
and  largely  as  a  result  of  his  enterprise  and  zeal,  the 

278 


TREMONT   STREET   NEIGHBORS 

Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  was  founded, 
and  he  became  its  first  President. 

Thomas  Coffin  Amory,  the  younger  (1812-1889), 
Harvard,  1830,  Counselor-at-Law,  and  a  neighbor  of 
Mr.  Rogers,  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Leg- 
islature, an  Alderman  of  Boston,  and  President  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  City  Hospital. 

Among  the  goodly  number  of  citizens  who  sus- 
tained the  reputation  of  this  neighborhood  for  respec- 
tability, were  Josiah  Bradlee,  a  prominent  merchant 
who  occupied  a  house  on  the  north  corner  of  Tremont 
Street  (where  now  stands  the  fine  building  of  Messrs. 
R.  H.  Stearns  and  Company) ;  Samuel  Cabot,  M.D., 
an  able  Surgeon,  and  Fellow  of  the  American  Acad- 
emy; and  Nathaniel  Hooper,  who  removed  about  1857 
from  17  Temple  Place  to  lower  Beacon  Street,  which 
then  was  becoming  a  popular  residential  district. 

Another  Temple  Place  resident  was  the  Reverend 
Alexander  Hamilton  Vinton,  M.D.,  S.T.D.  (1807- 
1881),  Rector  of  Saint  Paul's  Church,  Boston,  for 
fourteen  years,  and  afterward  rector  of  Emmanuel 
Church.  He  had  also  the  charge  of  parishes  in  Phil- 
adelphia and  New  York,  and  was  one  of  the  most 
influential  among  his  contemporary  clerical  brethren 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  .  .  . 

The  residence  of  Dr.  George  Hayward  (1791- 

279 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

1862),  Harvard,  1809,  was  on  the  premises  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  firm  of  Melvin  and  Badger,  Druggists. 
He  was  a  son  of  Dr.  Lemuel  Hay  ward,  a  surgeon  in 
the  American  Army  during  the  Revolution,  who  lived 
opposite  the  White  Horse  Tavern.  Dr.  George  Hay- 
ward  was  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgery  in  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School,  and  one  of  the  best  known  prac- 
titioners of  his  time. 

The  Haymarket  and  Vicinity 

r  •  ^  OWARD  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
•*•  Haymarket  occupied  considerable  space  between 
Tremont  and  Mason  Streets,  including  the  land  where- 
on Colonnade  Row  was  built  in  181 1.  This  land  was 
originally  a  part  of  the  Common.  On  the  south  cor- 
ner of  Tremont  and  West  Streets,  now  occupied  by 
the  Lawrence  Building,  stood  a  wooden,  barnlike 
structure  containing  the  Town  Hay  Scales;  and  be- 
hind it,  on  Mason  Street,  was  a  military  laboratory. 
This  latter  building  was  afterward  occupied  as  a  car- 
riage manufactory  by  the  firm  of  Frothingham, 
Wheeler  and  Jacobs.  The  public  whipping-post, 
which  was  formerly  on  State  Street,  stood  at  one  time 
near  the  site  of  the  West  Street  gate  of  the  Common. 
Close  by  were  the  pillory  and  stocks,  which  were  mov- 

280 


TREMONT    STREET    NEIGHBORS 

able,  being  placed  on  wheels.  They  were  used  as  a 
means  of  enforcing  attendance  at  church,  and  as  a 
punishment  for  various  misdemeanors.1 

The  Haymarket  Theatre  was  built  in  1796  on  the 
southern  part  of  the  Haymarket,  near  Boylston 
Street,  where  the  Tremont  Theatre  now  stands.  It 
was  a  huge,  unsightly  pile,  somewhat  after  the  soap- 
box style  of  architecture ;  and  although  it  was  claimed 
to  be  the  most  spacious  and  convenient  theater  in 
America,  it  was  a  constant  menace  to  the  neighboring 
buildings  on  account  of  its  liability  to  take  fire. 

The  first  Boston  Theatre,  on  the  corner  of  Frank- 
lin and  Federal  Streets,  had  been  opened  about  two 
years  before,  and  the  alleged  motives  for  building  a 
new  theater  were  political  intrigue  and  animosities. 
In  1796  intense  partizan  feeling  and  rivalry  existed 
between  the  Federalists  and  members  of  the  Jacobin 
party;  and  there  existed  also  much  jealousy  and  bit- 
terness among  the  managers  and  stockholders  of  the 
two  theaters.  "The  presence  of  a  supporter  of  the 
old  theater  at  the  Haymarket  was  regarded  as  a  dis- 
loyal act.  The  rivalry  continued  until  February  2, 
1798,  when  the  Boston  Theatre  was  destroyed  by 
fire."  * 

1  S.  A.  Drake.     Old  Landmarks  of  Boston. 

2  The  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  IV,  363. 

28l 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

The  new  Play-house  had  a  large  auditorium,  three 
tiers  of  boxes,  and  also  a  gallery  and  drawing-room. 
It  was  under  the  management  of  Charles  Stuart 
Powell,  an  actor  formerly  connected  with  the  Theatre 
Royal,  Covent  Garden,  London,  and  for  a  time  man- 
ager of  the  Federal  Street  Theatre  in  Boston.  The 
"Haymarket"  was  never  a  success  financially,  and 
the  building  was  taken  down  in  1803. 

The  lanes  and  pastures  of  the  old  South  End  of 
Boston  have  long  since  disappeared.  No  vestige  of 
its  rural  aspect  remains.  Business  blocks  and  de- 
partment stores  surround  Saint  Paul's  Cathedral,  and 
cover  the  site  of  the  Washington  Gardens.  But  the 
Common  is  a  sacred  tract,  to  be  preserved  as  a  de- 
lightful heritage  from  the  founders  of  the  Colony; 
and  the  fair  acres  of  the  ancient  Gentry  Field,  ever  a 
source  of  pride  and  interest  to  the  citizens,  will  con- 
tinue to  be  guarded  with  jealous  care  as  one  of  the 
most  famous  of  historic  pleasure  grounds. 


282 


Principal  Sources  of  Information 

Boston  Town  Records. 

The  Memorial  History  of  Boston. 

S.  A.  Drake's  Old  Landmarks  of  Boston. 

Suffolk  Registry  of  Deeds  and  Probate  Records. 

James  Savage's  Genealogical  Dictionary  of  the  First 
Settlers  of  New  England. 

Records  of  the  older  Churches  of  Boston. 

Proceedings  and  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society. 

The  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Reg- 
ister. 

J.  L.  Sibley's  Harvard  Graduates. 

Early  Boston  Directories. 

Genealogies  and  Family  Histories. 

Files  of  early  Boston  newspapers. 

Poole's  Index  of  Periodical  Literature. 

Bostonian  Society  Publications. 

The  Book  of  Possessions. 

Aspinwall  Notarial  Records. 

History  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Com- 
pany. 

Soldiers  in  King  Philip's  War. 

Massachusetts  Soldiers  and  Sailors  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War. 

Massachusetts  Archives. 

The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica;  Eleventh  Edition. 

283 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL   SITE 

"Gleaner"  Articles,  by  Nathaniel  Ingersoll  Bowditch. 

A  History  of  Boston,  by  Caleb  A.  Snow,  M.D. 

Annals  of  the  Massachusetts  Charitable  Mechanic 
Association. 

Good  Old  Dorchester,  by  William  Dana  Orcutt. 

A  Record  of  the  Streets,  Alleys,  Places,  etc.,  in  the 
City  of  Boston. 

The  Old  Boston  Post  Road,  by  Stephen  Jenkins. 

Memorial  Biographies  of  the  New  England  Historic- 
Genealogical  Society. 

The  History  and  Antiquities  of  Boston,  by  Samuel  G. 
Drake. 

Various  Town  and  County  Histories. 

Rambles  Around  Old  Boston,  by  Edwin  M.  Bacon, 
1914. 

Days  and  Ways  in  Old  Boston,  edited  by  William  S. 
Rossiter,  and  published  by  R.  H.  Stearns  and  Com- 
pany, 1915. 

Social  Life  in  Old  New  England,  Mary  Caroline 
Crawford. 

Doctor  Holmes  s  Boston,  edited  by  Caroline  Ticknor. 

Acknowledgments  for  assistance  are  due  to 
Hon.  Samuel  A.  Green,  M.D., 
Walter  K.  Watkins,  Esq., 
George  A.  Sawyer,  Esq., 
Joseph  F.  Woods,  Esq., 
Miss  Annie  H.  Thwing, 
Rev.  Anson  Titus, 
Frank  H.  Manning,  Esq., 
and  many  others. 

284 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abigail,  86 

Abraham,  Plains  of,  176 

Adams  House,  31,  32,  89,  246 

Samuel,  29,  64,  124,  236,  239 
Albany,  193 
Alexander,  Francesca,  243 

Francis,  243 

Lucia  Gray,  243 
American  Army,  68,  207 

Antiquarian  Society,  240 

Education  Society,  215 

Notes,  250 

Academy,  Fellow  of,  279 
Amory,  Jonathan,  96 

Thomas  C.,  138,  279 
Ancient   and    Honorable    Artillery 
Co.,  45,  65,  66,  85,  106,  109, 
119,   122,   135,   159,   160,   161, 
164,   172,   179,   190,  218,  219, 
221,  224,  244,  252,  267 
Andrews,  Ebenezer  Turell,  240,  241 

John,  212 

William  Turell,  241 
Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  44,  113,  114, 

.  "5..I95,  217 

Animals  in  Queen  Anne  s  time,  57 
Antinomians,  86 
Appleton,  William,  94 
Aspinwall   Notarial   Records,    108, 

191 
Atherton,  Consider,  45,  46 

Edmund,  44 

Hope,  44,  45,  46 

Major  Humphrey,  44,  45,  46,  47 

Increase,  44 

Manor,  44 

Rest,  44 

Robert,  44 

Thankful,  44 

Patience,  45 

Watching,  45 
Atkinson  Street,  196 


Avery  Corner,  28 

John, 28 

John,  the  Pirate,  29 

John,  the  Younger,|28,  29 

Street,  27 
Ayer,  in 


B 


Back  Bay,  24 
Bacon,  Edwin  MM  213 

of  Roxbury,  55 
Baker,  Alexander,  38 

Luke,  79,  174,  223 
Ballard,  Elizabeth  Pickering,  93 

Fear,  93 

Samuel,  79,  92 
Balston,  Jonathan,  97 
Baltimore,  209 
Banister,  Samuel,  227,  230,  231 

Thomas,  21,  227,  230,  231 
Banister's  Gardens,  231 

Lane,  24,  159 
Bank  of  the  U.  S.,  21 1 
Bartlett,  John,  176,  177 

Tabitha,  176 

Thomas,  176 

Bathing  Establishments,  152 
Batterymarch  Street,  85 
Battery  Street,  27 
Beach  Street,  54 
Beacon  Hill,  13,  87,  198,  203,  231 

on  the  Hill,  211 

Street,  23,  29,  33,  265,  279 
Belcher, 

Governor,  252 
Bell,  Shubael,  94 
Bellingham,  Gov.  Richard,  19,  254, 

260 

Bell-in-Hand  Tavern,  166 
Bells,  first  chime  in  North  America, 

J33 

Bennett  Street,  170,  178 


287 


INDEX 


Bernard,  Sir  Francis,  134,  197,  249, 

272 

Bible,  first  printed  in  Boston,  63 
Bishop,  William,  56 
Black  Boy  and  But,  127 
Black  Horse  Lane,  26 
Blackstone,  William,  37,  231 
Blake,  John,  52 
Blanchard,  Joshua,  60 
Blanford,  68 
Blin,  Thomas,  33 
Block-keeper,  227 
Blott,  Robert,  228,  229,  251 

Sarah,  229 
Blott's  Corner,  251 

Lane,  24,  224,  225,  251 
Blue  Bell  Tavern,  85 
Blyn,  Mr.,  32 
Boies,  James,  174,  175 

Jeremiah  Smith,  174,  235 

John,  235 
Bond,  Nathan,  78 
Book  of  Possessions,  27,  37,  95,  106, 

108,  158 
Boston,  Aldermen  of,  279 

defense  of,  224 

evacuation  of,  66 

first  directory  of,  27 

freemen  of,  192 

homes  in,  209 

in  1663, 18 

in  1666,  19 

in  1686,  24 

in  1699,  18 

in  1720,  1 66 

in  1792,  211 

Siege  of,  212 

streets  in,  209 

Sunday  in, 207 

topographical  description,  269 

town  officials  in  1820,  146 

type  of  buildings,  20 

Atheneum,  265 

Commercial  Gazette,  142 

Daily  Advertiser,  94,  142,  179 

directories,  223 

Dispensary,  137,  177,  215 

Evening  Post,  126,  269,  273 

Fire  of  1711,  165 

Gazette,  53,  64,  205 

Jail,  64 

Latin  School,  261 


Boston,  Lying-in  Hospital,  184 

Magazine,  76 

Manufacturing  Co.,  236 

Museum,  249 

Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  245 

Neck,  54,  56 

News  Letter,  54,  56,  61,  62,  99, 
124 

Port  Bill,  121 

Post  Boy,  59,  124 

Regiment,  66,  136 

Tea  Party,  124,  138 

Theatre,  first,  281 

Transcript,  32 

Weather,  209 

&  Worcester  Railroad  Co.,  76 
Bostonian    Society's    Publications, 

239 

Bowditch,  Nathaniel  I.,  32 
Bowdoin,  Hon.  James,  168 
Boylston  Street,  24,  25,  27,  157,  281 

Dr.  Zabdiel,  24 
Bradlee,  Josiah,  279 
Bradstreet,  Governor,  217 
Brattle,  Katharine,  116 

Thomas,  116,  218,  219,  222 

Thomas,  Jr.,  220 

Street,  220 

Street  Church,  81, 120,  218,  220 
Bread,  assize  of,  246 

kinds  of,  247 

specified  weights  of,  245 
Breck,  Samuel,  210 

Samuel,  the  Younger,  211 
Brewster,  Elder  William,  222 
Briscow's  Corner,  262 
Brigade  Train  of  Artillery,  66 
British  Crown,  65 

West  Indies,  129 
Broad  Street,  26 
Brighton,  26 
Bromfield,  Edward,  262,  266 

Edward,  the  Younger,  263,  265 

Edward,  the  Third,  165 

Mary  Danforth,  263 

Sarah,  263 

House,  262 

Lane,  66,  262 

Street,  262,  266 
Bromfield's  Regiment,  66 
Brookfield,  40,  58,  164 
Brookline,  163,  179 


288 


INDEX 


Brooks,  Gov.  John,  215,  243 

Phillips,  260 
Brown,  Elisha,  272 

James,  20 

Samuel,  253 
Browne,  Mary,  116 

William,  116 
Buff  on,  Count  de,  151 
Building  Committee,  94,  105 

permit,  222 
Bull  Pasture,  56 
Bumstead,  Geremiah,  229,  230 

John, 224 

Thomas,  65,  267 

Place,  67,  275 

Bunch  of  Grapes  Tavern,  173,  187 
Bunker  Hill,  67,  211,  244,  273 
Burden,  Ann,  86 

George,  86,  89 
"Burgoyne  Bowl,"  66 
Burnaby,  Rev.  Andrew,  198 
Bushell,  John,  59,  67,  90 

John,  Jr.,  59,  60,  91 

Mary,  60,  61 

Rebecca,  59 
Bute,  John  Stuart,  203 


Cabot,  Samuel,  279 
Callender,  Benjamin,  80,  93 
Cambridge,  48,  62,  67,  151,  192 

Military  Company,  61 

Street,  82 

Canada,  65,  169,  193 
Canal  Bridge,  152 

Company,  137 
Carr,  Sir  Robert,  189,  190 
Carriages,  169 
Carter,  Ann,  89 

James,  244 

Lot,  105 

Mary,  107 

Richard,  89,  90,  96,  105,  107 
Carter's  Pasture,  89, 96, 105, 109, 1 10 
Castle  Tavern,  85,  188 

William,  120,  268 
Causeway  Street,  87 
Centre  Reading  and  Writing  School, 
244 

Gentry  Field,  282 

Street,  198 


Chambers  Street,  82 
Charles  River,  13,  77 

Bridge,  171 

Street,  23 
Charleston,  239 
Charlestown,  63,  222,  224 

Ferry,  174 

Cheeshahteaumuck,  Caleb,  42,  45 
Cheever,  Abigail,  255 

Elizabeth,  255 

Ezekiel,  253,  254,  255 

Sarah,  255 

Sarah  (Weaver)  Gooch,  253,  254 
Cheeverian  Education,  254 
Christ  Church,  128,  131,  133,  177 
City  Hall  Avenue,  165 

Hospital,  279 

Theatre,  142 
Clark,  Sam,  97 
"Clerk  of  the  Market,"  79 
Cobb,  Samuel,  244 
Coddington,  William,  260 
Codman,  Henry,  94 
Colbron's  Field,  27 
Cole,  Seth,  81 
Coleburn,  William,  27 
Coleburn's  Lane,  27 
Collier,  Richard,  61,  91,  92 
Colman,  Rev.  Benjamin,  195 
Colonade  Row,  280 
Columbian  Sentinel,  16,  17,  80,  150, 

151,  153,  i?2 

Common,  The,  13,  21,  22,  23,  24,  32, 
33,  37,  38,  46,  58,  66,  76,  77,  80, 
85,  89,  90,  96,  134,  135,  157, 
166,  192,  198,  203,  214,  220, 
224,  229,  233,  262,  271,  274, 
280,  282 

West  Street  Gate,  280 
Spring,  1 06 

Street,  20,  23,  66,  79,  80,  81,  94, 
95,  129,  135,  144,  147,  174,  213 

Commercial  Gazette,  144 

Concord,  226 

Congress  Street,  196 

Connecticut,  Council  and  Assembly 
of,  62 

Continental  Journal,  65 

Cooper,  Rev.  Samuel,  274 
William,  17 

Copeland,  80 

Copp's  Hill,  87 


289 


INDEX 


Corlett,  Elijah,  42 

Cornhill,  79, 80, 98, 123, 177, 178,223 

Cotton,  John,  109 

Court  House,  278 

Court  Street,  64,  100 

Co  vent  Garden,  282 

Cow  Lane,  26,  196 

Gowell,  Joseph,  107 

Mary,  107 
Co  well's  Corner,  24 
Crafts,  Lieut.  Col.  Thomas,  224 
Craigie's  Bridge,  137,  152 
Cranch,  Richard,  234 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  106 
Cromwell's  Head  Tavern,  213 
Cross,  John,  38,  89,  90 
Cushiiig,  Thomas,  263,  266 


Drugs  and  Medicines,  Catalogue  of. 

178 
Dudley,  Gov.  Joseph,  119,  167,  193 

Mary,  119 

Paul,  167 

Paul,  the  Younger,  166 

Thomas,  164,  167 
Dudleian  Lectures,  167 
Dumont,  John  Thomas  Philip,  256 
Dunster  Street,  108 
Dunton,  John,  25,  227 
Durant,  Edward,  32,  172,  252 

Edward,  the  Younger,  172 

John, 251 
Dyer,  Giles,  227 


D 


Dalrymple,  Col.  William,  272 
Davenport,  Judge  Addington,  119 

Rev.  Addington,  120 

Eleazar,  119 

Rebecca  (Addington),  119 

Richard,  119 

True  Cross,  1 19 
Davis,  Caleb,  268 
Davey,  Lord  Thomas,  227 
Dawes,  Thomas,  268 
Dearborn,  Benjamin,  178 
Dealing,  William,  178 
Dedham,  237 
Delany,  Prudence,  52 
Delisle,  Mr.,  152 
Dench,  Capt.  Gilbert,  131 
Dennison,  Capt.,  51 
Devonshire  Street,  26,  88,  98 
Dexter,  Dr.  Aaron,  183 

Mrs.  John,  216 
Dickens,  Charles,  250 
Dispensary,  178 
Dock  Square,  123,  173,  188 
Dogs,  264 

Donnison,  William,  244 
Dorchester,  175 

Heights,  174 

train-band,  45 
Dover  Street,  54 
Drake,  Samuel  A.,  200 

Samuel  Gardner,  26,  189 


East  Boston,  29 
Edes,  Benjamin,  64 

Peter,  64 

&  GUI,  64 
Eliot,  John,  53,  58 
Eliot's  Corner,  25 
Ellis,  Dr.  Edward,  229,  251 

Elizabeth,  251 

Robert,  251 
Ellise's  Corner,  24 
Elm  Street,  188 
Emmanuel  Church,  279 
Endicott,  John,  60,  119 
England,  14,  129,  194 

Church  of,  129 
Essex  Bar,  243 

Institute,  77,  245 

Street,  25 

Exchange  Street,  128,  191 
Eyre,  John,  116,  218 

Dr.  Simon,  218 


Fairfield,  43 
Fairmount  Park,  212 
Fairweather,  Capt.,  114 
Faneuil  Hall,  66,  124,  232 
Fanning,  Mrs.,  132 
Farley,  Ebenezer,  244 
Farmer's  Almanack,  246 
Farnum,  Erastus,  152 


290 


INDEX 


Farrar's  Tavern,  71 
Faulkner,  Luther,  183 
Federal  Street,  281 

Theatre,  282 
Federalist,  281 
Fessenden,  John,  244 
Fire  Engine,  First,  100 

regulations  in  1673,  1 88 
First  Church  of  Christ,  85,  86,  87, 

95,  157,  225,  259,  260 
Fitzpatrick,  Alice,  177 
Fleet,  Elizabeth,  97 

Thomas,  97,  98,  99 
Flounder  Alley,  26 
Football  in  1701,  264 
Fort  Cumberland,  65 

Hill,  203 

Independence,  114,  119 
Fosdick,  James,  59,  67,  222 

John, 223 

Samuel,  222 

Stephen,  222 

Thomas,  223 
Foster,  Anne,  97 

Elizabeth,  97 

James,  67 

William,  97 

Fowle,  Zachariah,  239,  240 
Frankland,  Sir  Henry,  131 
Franklin  Street,  281 
Freeman,  Benjamin,  93 

Temperance  (Dimmick),  93 
Free  Writing  School,  244 
French  Protestant  refugees,  21 

troops,  207 
Frog  Lane,  23,  24,  213 

Pond, 33 

Frothingham,  Wheeler  &  Jacobs,  280 
Frye,  Col.  Joseph,  65 
Frye's  Massachusetts  Regiment,  65 


Gage,  Thomas,  121,  214 
Gardiner,  Joseph,  231 

Dr.  Sylvester,  231 

William,  231 
Gatcliffe,  Jonathan,  189 
Genealogical  Dictionary  of  the  First 

Settlers  of  New  England,  278 
General  Court,  192,  210,  226 


George  Tavern,  55,  56 
Gill,  John,  63,  64,  65 

Moses,  64 

Gillam,  Abigail,  266 
Gilmor,  Robert,  209 
Gibson,  Edmund,  130 
Girondists,  Chief  of  the,  208 
"Gleaner"  articles,  32 
Glover,  Goody,  225 
Gold,  Major  Nathan,  51 
Gooch,  John, 253 

Sarah  (Weaver),  253 
Good  Samaritan,  Sign  of  the,  177 
Goodwin,  John,  224 

children,  care  of  the,  225 

Martha,  224 
Gookin,  Daniel,  39 
Goose,  Elizabeth,  97 

Isaac,  90,  96 

Isaac,  Jr.,  100 

Mary,  97 

Peter,  96 

Gorham,  Dr.  John,  183 
Granary,  122,  123,  198 

Burying  Ground,  67,  272 
Grant,  Abigail,  137 

Alexander,  137 

Fidelity,  239 
Gray,  Hannah,  177 

Lucia,  243 

William,  243 
"Grass  Market,"  193 
Great  Mall,  213 
Green,  Bushell  &  Adam,  59 
Green  Dragon  Tavern,  85 

Rufus,  60 

Samuel,  61,  62,  109 

Samuel,  Jr.,  62 

Samuel  A.,  112 

Street,  82,  169 

Timothy,  62 

Timothy,  Jr.,  60,  61,  63 
Greene,  Gardiner,  200 
Greenleaf,  Rev.  Daniel,  133 

Elizabeth  (Gookin),  133 

Stephen,  60,  129,  133,  135,  144, 

239,  272 

Greenleaf's  Garden,  33,  136 
Greyhound  Tavern,  53 
Gridley's  Coffee  House,  166 
Groton,  in,  112,  226 

Foot  Company,  in 


291 


INDEX 


H 


Halifax  Gazette,  59 
Hall,  Capt.  Basil,  75 

Minna  Bartlett,  179 
Hamilton  Place,  197,  271 
Hamock    (Hammock),   John,    127, 

128 
Hampshire     Country     Regiment, 

Third,  68 
Hancock,  Gov.  John,  77,  124,  199, 

268 

Hancock's  Independent  Company, 
223 

Wharf,  27,  122 

Hanover  Street,  62,  137,  169,  195 
"Harbour  of  Boats,"  173 
Harker,  Anthony,  90,  95,  96 
Harris,  Stephen,  133 

Thankfull,  133 
Harrison,  Joseph,  199 
Harvard  College,  41,  79,  88,  122, 
222,  226,  241,  243,  261,  279, 
280 

Indians  at,  42 

Medical  School,  42 

Square,  42 
Hartford,  68,  70 

Lane  Records,  38 
Hassanamesit  Indians,  39 
Hatch,  Mrs.,  216 
Hatch's  Regiment,  223 
Haverhill,  62 
Hayden,  Ebenezer,  221 
Haymarket,  280,  281 

Square,  85 

Tavern,  27 

Theatre,  153,  281,  282 
Hayward,  Dr.  George,  183,  279,  280 

Dr.  Lemuel,  183,  280 
Hazelton,  175,  176 
"Heart  &  Crown,"  98 
Heath,  Gen.  William,  201 
Henshaw,  Samuel,  234 

Thomas,  268 
Hewes  (Hughes),  Joshua,  40,  50,  52 

Benjamin,  58 

Hannah,  58 

Lieut.  Joshua,  50,  52,  53,  54,  57 

Joshua  (the  Younger),  57 

Joshua,  58 

Mary,  58 


Hewes,  Samuel,  58 

Sarah,  58 

Higgeson,  Rev.  Mr.,  13 
High  Street,  26,  196 
"High-way,  The,"  22 
Hoar,  Bridget  (Lisle),  no 

Leonard,  no 
Hogg  Alley,  31 
Holyoke  Street,  42 
Homans,  Caroline,  185 

Charles  Dudley,  185 

John, 184 

Mehitable,  255 
Hooper,  Nathaniel,  279 
Howard,  Abigail,  13 

Atheneum,  169 

Mary,  116 

Street,  23 

Howe,  General,  214 
Hubbard,  John,  166 
Hudson,  William,  173,  177, 186,  189 

William,  the  Younger,  187 

River,  249 

Hudson's  Lane,  188 
Hughes,  see  Hewes 
Hull,  Hannah,  161 

John,  1 60 

Judith  (Quincy),  160,  162 
Huske,  Ellis,  59 
Hutchinson,  Anne,  86 

Edward,  119,  121,  122 

Thomas,  119,  121 


Independent  Chronicle,  79 
Company  of  Cadets,  135 
Ledger  and  American  Advertiser, 

273 
Indian  Bible,  109 

College,  41 

Queen  Tavern,  262 
Inns,  Country,  170 
Izard,  Major  General  George,  243 


Jackson,  Judge  Charles,  243 
General  Henry,  135 
Lieut.  Col.  Henry,  223 
Joseph,  135 
Susannah  Gray,  135 


292 


INDEX 


Jacobin  Party,  281 
Jarvis's  Corner,  25 
Johnson,  Abigail,  86 

Edward,  14,  45 

James,  85 

Jones,  John  Coffin,  136 
Jordan  Marsh  Company,  97 
Josselyn,  John,  18 


Keayne,  Capt.  Robert,  186 
Keith's  Theatre,  31 
Kidd,  Capt.  William,  64 
Kidder,  Tabitha,  176 
Kilby  Street,  26,  123,  173,  187 
King  Charles  I,  37 

Charles  II,  19,  190 

George  I,  222 

George  II,  252 

George  III,  50,  121,  203 

Henry  III,  246 

John,  44 

Louis  XVI,  210 

Richard  II,  248 

Street,  64,  108,  173 

Street  Massacre,  174 

William,  114 

William's  War,  in 
King's  Chapel,  121,  129,  133,  179, 
228,  231,  233,  244 

Vestrymen  of,  210 
Kingsley,  Stephen,  185,  260 
Kneeland,  Samuel,  63 

&  Green,  63 
Knight,  Madam  Sarah,  72 


Lafayette,  General,  68 
Lamb,  33 

Capt.  Joshua,  56 

Tavern,  31 

Thomas,  278 
Lamb's  Dam,  56 
Lancaster,  226 
Latin  School,  211 
Laughton,  William,  245 
Lawrence  Building,  280 
Leverett,  Hudson,  38,  159,  160,  216, 
221 

John, 158,  228 


Leverett,  John,  the  Younger,  159 

Capt.  John,  187 

Gov.  John,  37 

Maj.  Gen.  John,  254 

Sir  John,  50 

Lot,  the,  155 

Thomas,  95 
Leverett's  Pasture,  37, 157, 163, 216, 

235 

Lewis,  William,  266 
Liberty  Square,  85 
Lion  Tavern,  32 
Lisle,  Alicia,  no 

John,  no 

Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  88 
Long  Acre,  23,  198,  267,  273 

John, 245 

Street,  271 

Wharf,  82 
Longwood,  82 
Love  Lane,  26 
Lucas,  John,  90 
Luce,  Peter,  231 
Lynde,  Hannah  (Newgate),  160 

Simon,  23,  159 

Street,  82 

M 

Mackerel  Lane,  26,  173,  187 
Mall,  The,  33,  70,  76,  77,  80,  152 
Man,  John,  216,  217 
Manley,  William,  59 
Manufactory  House,  271 

Scheme,  197 
Marblehead,  223 
Marlborough  Street,  43,  232,  262 
Market,  Clerks  of  the,  246 

Place,  108 
Maritime  Court,  65 
Marriott,  Catherine,  253 

John,  Jr.,  221 

Powers,  253 
Marshall,  John,  219 
Masathulet's  Bay,  13 
Mason,  Arthur,  189,  191 

Ralph,  89 

Street,  23,  85,  142,  280 
Masonic  organizations  in  1830,  148 

Temple,  24,  147,  276 
Massachusetts,  14 

origin  of  Senate  and  House,  1 86 


293 


INDEX 


Massachusetts,  Bank,  273 
Centinel,  270 
Charitable  Mechanic  Association, 

81,  137 

Gazette,  269 

Hospital  Life  Insurance  Co.,  241 

Humane  Society,  177 

Institute  of  Technology,  279 

Legislature,  279 

Magazine,  171,  241 

Militia,  68 

Spy,  70,  240 

Mather,  Rev.  Cotton,  49, 97, 224, 254 
Mather's    Memorable    Providence, 

225 

Matross  Company,  66 
Maud,  Daniel,  185,  259 

Mary,  261 

Maverick,  Samuel,  29,  189 
Mayflower,  266 
McAdam,  John  Loudon,  73 
McLean,  John,  216 
Mears,  Samuel,  55 
Medfprd,  174 
Melvin  &  Badger,  280 
Melyen's  Corner,  23 
Mendon,  39,  43 
Merrimac  River,  62 
Middle  Street,  62 
Milk,  a  Lover  of,  153 

Street,  196 
Mill  Cove,  87 

Pond,  58,  87,  169 
Miller,  Joseph,  90 
Mills,  John,  245 
Milton,  174,  175 

Academy,  176 
Minot,  William,  183 
Mint,  First  in  N.  E.,  161 
Moody,  Rev.  Joshua,  225 
Morse's  Corner,  25 
Morton,  Rev.  Charles,  224 

Thomas,  57 

"Mother  Goose,"  98,  100 
Mount  Auburn  Street,  42 
Muddy  River,  163 
Munson,  Robert,  229,  230 

N 

Natick,  39,  48 
Narragansetts,  39 


Neal,  Daniel,  166 

Nelson,  John,  195 

Neponset  River,  175 

Newberry  Ward,  24 

Newbury  Street,  24,  25,  27,  28,  95, 

99,  251 

Newburyport,  243 
New  England,  192 

Asylum  for  the  Blind,  278 

Bank,  278 

Guards,  243 

Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  241 

Plantation,  13 

Weekly  Journal,  63 
"New  England's  First  Fruits,"  42 
Newgate,  Hannah,  160 

John, I 60 

New  London,  62,  63 
Newton,  173 
Newtone,  192 
New  York,  68,  70,  245,  279 

Stage,  70 

Nicholson,  Francis,  194 
Nightwatchmen,  duties  of,  15 
Nipmuck  Country,  40 
Nipmucks,  39 
"Noah's  Ark,"  190 
Nonacoicus,  in 
Nonantum  Hill,  173 
Noodle  Island,  29 
North  Church,  224 

End,  26,  190,  211 

End  Coffee  House,  122 

Lot,  35 

Railway  Station,  58 

Street,  122 

Northampton  Street,  56 
Northumberland,  Duke  of,  203 
Nova  Scotia,  65,  194 

O 

Oakes,  Dr.  Thomas,  25 

Ockes,  Frederick,  245 

Odin,  George,  94 

Oke's  Corner,  25 

Old  Granary  Burying  Ground,  270 
Landmarks  of  Boston,  200 
South  Church,  too,  109,  124,  157, 
161,  203,  215,  218,  219,  222, 
226,  252,  262,  274 

Oliver,  Grace,  48 


294 


INDEX 


Oliver,  James,  191 

Nathaniel,  218 

Thomas,  48 
Orange  Street,  24,  82 
Orange  Tree  Tavern,  169 
Osborn,  Catherine,  94 

John,  81,  93,  94,  144 

lot,  105 

Otis,  James,  64 
Owen,  George,  51 
Oxnard,  Edward,  199 

Thomas,  60,  196,  199 

Thomas,  the  Younger,  199 


Paddock,  Adnio,  66,  266,  269 

Zachariah,  266 
Paddock's  Mall,  269 

Train  of  Artillery,  266 
Papanti,  Lorenzo,  143 
Park  Square,  233 

Street,  23,  123 

Street  Church,  123,  198,  259 

Theatre,  28 
Parker,  Capt.  James,  ill 

Rev.  Samuel,  135 
Parsons,  Joseph,  218 

Street,  26 

Thomas  William,  249 

William,  89,  105 
"Pear  Orchard,"  82 
Pearl  Street,  278 
Pease,  Levi,  66,  174 

Nathaniel,  74 
Pembroke,  Benjamin,  251 

Benjamin,  the  Younger,  251 

Ebenezer,  252 

James,  251 

Sarah,  251 

fund,  252 

Hill,  200 
Pennsylvania,    Commonwealth   of, 

212 

Pequot  War,  118 

Percy,  Hugh,  134,  200,  210 

Perkins,  Institute,  278 

Thomas  Handasyd,  278 
Pessacus,  46 

Philadelphia,  210,  211,  245,  278,  279 
Philip's  War,  39, 40,  41,  57,  219,  221, 

222,  226 


Phillips,  William,  215 

William,  the  Younger,  215 
Phipps,  Gov.  Sir  William,  46,  164 
Picketts,  Mercy,  222 
"Pie  Alley,"  165,  166 
"Pig-case,"  185 
Pig  Lane,  26 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  212 
Pillory  and  Stocks,  280 
Pitcairn,  Major,  134,  204 
Pitts,  James,  168 

Lane,  169 

Street,  169 
Point  Judith,  161 

Police  Records  and  Recollections,  16 
Pollards,  194 
Pons,  Thomas,  223 
Pope,  Betsey,  93 

Edward,  93 
Pormont,  Philemon,  260 

Susann,  260 
Porter,  David,  122 
Port  Royal,  194 

Siege  of,  165 
Portsmouth,  178,  239 
Powell,  Charles  Stuart,  282 
Pownal,  Gov.  Thomas,  249 
Praske,  Ann,  43 
Pratt,  Edward,  52 
Prescott,  Oliver,  131 
Price,  Ezekiel,  248 

Rev.  Roger,  129 

Major  William,  132 
Prince  Street,  26 
Printing,  a  History  of,  240 
"  Prison  Engine  Company,"  loo,  134 

Lane,  64,  100 
Province  House,  197 
Provident  Institution  for  Savings, 

278 

Pudding  Lane,  26,  98 
Purchase  Street,  236 

Q 

Quabog,  164 
Quebec,  176,  193 
Queen  Anne,  193 

Street,  64 
Quincey,  Anna,  no 

Daniel,  no 
Quincy,  Edmund,  160 

Judith,  1 60 


295 


INDEX 


R 


Rainesborough,  Col.  William,  187 
Rambles  around  Old  Boston,  213 
Rauschner,  John  Christian,  245 
Rawson,  Edward,  47,  266 

Grindall,  47 

Rawson's  Lane,  262,  266 
Recreation  Facilities,  149 
Rents  in  provincial  times,  90 
Revere,  Paul,  81,85 
Rhode  Island,  Campaign  in,  223 
Richards,  John,  90,  217 
Richardson,  Amos,  51 
Robberies  in  Boston,  125 
Roberts,  John,  245 
Robin,  L'Abbe",  207 
Rochambeau,  Count,  207 
Rogers,  William  Barton,  278 
Romanock,  42,  43,  44,  51 
Ross,  Jean,  211 
Roulstone,  John,  150 
Roxbury,  243 

Charitable  Society,  177 

train-band,  53 
Ruskin,  John,  243 
Russell,  Edward,  245 

Joseph,  136 

Samuel,  245 


Saint  Ann's  Parish,  129 

Andrew's  Church,  121 

Paul's  Church,  13,  144,  176,  224, 
237,  243,  279,  282 

Purchase  of  a  Site  for,  94 

Vitus's  Dance,  225 
Salem,  243,  245 

Street  Printer,  a,  239 

train-band,  119 
Salutation  Alley,  26 

Inn, 26 

Sampford,  John,  186 
Sargent,  Lucius  Manlius,  198 
Savage,  Abijah,  277 

Edward  H.,  16 

Ephraim,  163 

Faith,  163 

James,  277,  278 

Thomas,  57,  58,  163,  277 
Savage's  Court,  278 


School  Street,  123,  212 
Schuylkill  River,  212 
Scollay,  William,  135 
Scot's  Charitable  Society,  195 
Scott,  Rebeckah,  90 

Sir  Walter,  248 
Sears  Building,  37,  158 

David,  93,  95,  145 
Second  Church,  224 
Selectmen  of  Boston,  79,  212,  227, 

246 

Sergeant  Major  of  Middlesex,  226 
Sewall,  Farm,  163 

Joseph,  252,  254 

Samuel,  25,  97,  107,  no,  116,  161, 

163,  191,  194 

Shaffer,  John  H.,  143,  144 
Sheafe,  Henry,  27 

Street,  161 

William,  200 

Sheafe's  Lane,  27,  28,  31,  32 
Shedd,  Joseph,  60 
Sheep  Lane,  27 

Shepard  Norwell  Company,  105 
Sherman,  Abigail,  227 

Elizabeth,  185,  186 

Richard,  185 

lot,  192 

Shimmin,  William,  94,  144,  145 
Ship  Tavern,  190 
Shirley,  Gov.  William,  249 
Shrimpton's  Lane,  128,  191 
Sigourney,  John  R.,  235 
"  Silver  Scheme,"  197 
Simmons,  Wheelock  and,  245 
Simpson,  Joseph,  251 
Skating  in  1775,  205 
Slavery  in  Mass.,  29 
Smallpox,  212 
Smith,  Matthias,  97 
Smoking,  statute  regulating,  49 
Snelling,  Joseph,  245 
Society  for  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel in  N.  E.,  41,  231 
Somers,  Conn,  68 
Somerset  St.,  176,  278 
Soreze,  France,  211 
Southack,  Capt.,  23 
South  Bennet  Street,  224 
South  End,  27, 46, 143, 198, 211, 221, 
282 

Lot,  83 


296 


INDEX 


Spinners  and  Weavers,  Company  of 

Irish,  271 
Spinning-Craze,  271,  273 

School,  271 
"Spiritual  Milk  for  Boston  Babes," 

109 

Spooner,  John,  253 
Sprague,  Dr.  John,  67,  235 
Spring  Gate,  106 

Lane,  106 
Stagecoach,  father  of  the,  68 

drivers,  78 

houses,  77 

lines,  70 

lines,  competition  between,  143 

routes  and  rates,  73 
Stamp  Act,  Repeal  of,  268 
State  Constitution,  30 

House,  20,  1 08 

Street,  81,  108,  173,  280 
Stearns,  R.  H.  &  Co.,  149,  279 
Stedman,  Thomas,  43 
Steel,  Capt.  Thomas,  195,  196 
Stoddard,  Anthony,  190 

Solomon,  190 
Stone,  Anne,  251 
Stoughton,  Gov.,  217 
Strong,  Gpv.  Caleb,  215,  216 
Stuart,  Gilbert,  179 
Suffolk  County  Brigade,  66 

Regiment,  45 

Savings  Bank,  278 

Troop,  219 
Sullivan,  George,  94,  95,  144 

Sarah  Bowdoin,  95 

William,  144,  147 
Summer  Street,  24,  221,  223 
Supreme  Court,  30 
"Surveighor  of  Chimneys,"  225 
Sutton,  40,  51 

Capt.  Bartholomew,  100 
Swan,  Hepzibah,  136 

James,  136 
"Sweetbrier,"  212 
Swett,  Lucia  Gray,  243 

Col.  Samuel,  242 

W.  B.  &  Co.,  243 


Tax  lists,  238 

Temple  Place,  24,  89,  95,  147,  276 


"Ten-Foot-Strip,"  105 
Theatre  Royal,  282 
Thacher,  Rev.  Thomas,  226 
Thomas,  Fidelity,  239 

Isaiah,  239 

Moses,  239 

&  Andrews,  240 
Thompson,  Ann,  176 

Nancy,  183 

Thomas,  79,  176,  183 
Thompson's  Spa,  166 
Ticonderoga,  68 
Tileston  Street,  26 
Toll  rates,  171 
Town  directory,  224 

hay  scales,  280 

house,  108,  127 

house,  first,  89 

meeting,  170 

records,  15,  16,  18,  21,  44,  128 

regulations  in  1701,  264 

thanks  of,  212 
Townsend,  Colonel,  23 
Traffic  regulations,  170,  171 
Training  Day,  62 

Travels  through  North  America,  198 
Travelers'  Impressions  of  Boston, 

207 
Tremont  Bank,  241 

Building,  23 

House,  270 

Tremont  Street,  13,  21,  22,  31,  32, 
37,  82,  87,  95,  105,  135,  142, 
145,  147,  159,  166,  i?6,  183, 
185,  197,  213,  216,  249,  259, 
266,  267,  268,  279,  280 

Mall,  270 

neighbors,  257 

pavings,  238 

Tremont  Theatre,  281 
Trinity  Church,  25,  121,  135,  231 
Trott,  George,  224,  244 

George,  Jr.,  224 
Tuckerman,  Daniel  Tent,  133 
Turfrey,  Capt.,  25 
Turnagain  Alley,  24,  147 
Turner's  Company,  Capt.  William, 

46 

Tyler,  Jonas,  152 
Tyng,  Edward,  227 

Eunice,  227 

Jonathan,  in 


297 


INDEX 


u 

Union  Street,  85,  212 

United  States  Direct  Tax,  78,  223, 

237 

Usher,  Bridget,  no,  118 
Hezekiah,  107 
Hezekiah,  the  Younger,  no 
John, 112,  114 


Vane,  Gov.  Henry,  260 
Venner,  Thomas,  106 
Vergoose,  Elizabeth,  98 

Peter,  96 
Vernon  Street,  53 
Vetch,  Margaret,  195 

Samuel,  193,  195,  197 

William,  193 
Vinton,  Alexander  Hamilton,  279 

W 

Wainwright,  Elizabeth,  118,  120 

Francis,  118,  189 

John, 118,  120 

Mary,  119 
Wales,  Ebenezer,  268 

John,  44 

Mary,  44 
Walker,  Dudley,  185 

Eleanor  (Clark),  185 

Robert,  157 

Walter,  Rev.  Dr.  William,  177 
Wampas,  Ann,  43,  50,  52 

John,  38,  41,  47,  89,  216 
Wampum,  162 
Ward,  Edward,  18 

Eleven  Company,  65 
Wardell,  Jonathan,  169 
Warren,  Dr.  John,  213 

Dr.  Joseph,  64 

Gen.  Joseph,  124,  138 
de  Warville,  Jacques  Pierre  Brissott, 

208 

Washington  Gardens,  129,  142,  144, 
147,  149,  282 

George,  71,  74,  174,  212 

Street,  13,  20,  24,  25,  27,  31,  32, 
53,  54,  59,  80,  82,  88,  95, -98, 
123,  145,  165,  174,  177,  223, 
229,  232,  251,  253 


"Water  Baylies,"  186 
Water  Street,  98 
Weaver,  Sarah,  253 
Weaving  and  Spinning,  271 
Webb,  Dosabell,  87 

Henry,  87 

Webster,  Daniel,  94 
Weld,  Isaac,  73 
Welles  Corner,  24 
West  Africa,  129 

End,  82,  160 

John, 113 

Street,  13,  24,  31,  86,  87,  89,  105, 

142,  145,  268,  280 
Wheelock  &  Simmons,  245 
Whipping-post,  280 
White,  Edmund,  191 

Samuel,  217 

Horse  Tavern,  28,  280 
Whiting,  George,  176 
Whitmore,  William  H.,  100 
Wickham,  Capt.,  28 
Wilby,  Francis,  94 
Wilkinson,  Thomas,  245 
Willard,  Abigail  Sherman,  227 

Eunice,  227 

Jonah, 222 

Mary,  in 

Rev.  Samuel,  222,  225 

Simon,  in 

Major  Simon,  225 

Solomon,  144 
Willey,  Edward,  193 

Elizabeth,  193 

Ruth,  193 
William  Street,  79 
Williams  Court,  165 

House,  211 

James,  59,  1 68 

James,  Jr.,  168 

John, 135, 199,  210 

Jonathan,  122,  124,  127,  133 

Jonathan,  the  Younger,  122 

Martha,  133 

Rebecca  (Bushell),  60 
Willis,  Capt.  Edward,  192 

Willis's  heirs,  194 

Lane,  166,  192 

Wilson,  Mrs.  Hannah  (Gray),  177 
Wing,  John,  188 

Robert,  89 
Winter  Place,  229 


298 


INDEX 


Winter  Street,  13,  20,  24,  33,  37,  59, 
67, 82, 89, 135, 145, 147, 157, 159, 
166,  172,  174,  184,  185,  189, 
192,  194,  195,  197,  212,  213, 

215,    2l6,    217,  2l8,  22O,  221, 

222,    223,    235,  237,  239,  242, 

244,    248,    249,  250,  251,  253, 
266 

Lots,  181,  216,  228 
Residents,  244 
Winthrop,  Adain,  196 
John,  17,  20,  37, 38,  IDS,  115, 185, 

196,  260 
John,  Jr.,  260 
Katharine  (Brattle),  Il6 
Mary  (Browne),  116 


Winthrop  Street,  108 

Wait-still,  115 
Winthrop 's  Company,  14 
Wise,  Rev.  John,  164 
Withington's  Company,  46 
Woburn,  14 
Wollaston,  89 

Wonder  Working  Providence,  14, 45 
Woolcot,  John,  192 
Worcester,  240 
Wyard,  Robert,  37,  90,  159 
Wyer,  Alice  (Fitzpatrick),  177 


Yale,  David,  191 


299 


A     000676716     4 


